Eight players will compete, six of them will be latinos and three of them will be Cubans. Randy Arozarena, Luis Robert Moiran and Adolis García will all compete for the chance to take home the title of Homerun Derby Champion this July 10th at 8 PM.
Adolis García leads all Cubans and Major League Baseball in runs batted in with 71 and has gone yard 22 times on the campaign. The native of Ciego de Ávila, Cuba also sports a robust .514 slugging percentage. García faces a tough first round matchup against his countrymen Randy Arozarena.
Los 3 cubanos que participarán en el Derby de Jonrones en el Juego de las Estrellas. #pelotacubana #AllStarGame #RaysUp #StraightUpTX #WhiteSox pic.twitter.com/q5ziWqwAob
— Yusseff305 🇨🇺🇺🇲 (@yusseff305) July 6, 2023
In the case of Arozarena who happens to be the most dynamic Cuban player in the game today, the diminutive outfielder has hit 16 roundtrippers in the first half of the season and is surely to break his career high of 20 in a season. Of his 85 hits 26 have been for extra bases. If the Pinar del Río, Cuba native can get past “El Bombi” in the first round he has a shot at winning the competition.
Luis Robert Moiran as he was called in Cuba leads all of his compatriots in longballs with 26. The outfielder who is also from Ciego de Ávila, Cuba is third in the majors in slugging percentage (.580), the #1 seed in the contest and the odds on favorite to win to win it all. If Robert wins the competition he would be the fourth player of Cuban descent to win the derby, Yoenis Céspedes, Luis González and Tino Martínez are the others.
Homerun Derby matchups and seeds:
(1) Luis Robert Jr. vs. (8) Adley Rutschman
(2) Pete Alonso vs. (7) Julio Rodríguez
(3) Mookie Betts vs. (6) Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
(4) Adolis García vs. (5) Randy Arozarena