Fielder won’t turn down offer to compete in Home Run Derby
First things first: Prince Fielder has not been named to the American League All-Star team.
No player has, and none will be until the starters are announced Sunday and the reserves Monday.
But he is the strong favorite to be picked for the July 14 game at Cincinnati and is likely to be the Texas Rangers’ lone representative. If Fielder is picked and is then asked to participate in the Home Run Derby, he won’t turn down the offer.
A two-time winner of the made-for-TV event, Fielder’s reasoning is simple: His two sons wouldn’t stand for him not being in there.
“Our course, not because I want to but because my kids would demand it,” Fielder said Monday. “I don’t think there’s any way I could go to the All-Star game and not do the Derby.”
Fielder is a two-time champion of the event, which is getting a new format this year. Instead of each hitter getting 10 outs in untimed rounds, hitters will get five minutes to hit as many homers as they can with the possibility of adding time for long homers.
“Five minutes?” he said. “Think about batting practice. You can hit 20 homers in batting practice.”
Fielder put to rest the notion that a home-run hitting contest would be detrimental to a swing that, entering Monday, had produced the AL’s top batting average (.351) and the most multihit games (33) in the majors.
There is some fatigue and soreness that comes with a derby effort. But as he puts it, he swings hard anyway and to do so in the derby would actually helps him maintain his swing.
Fielder hit 24 of his 46 homers in 2009 after winning the derby, though he hit 32 points less than in the first half, and half of his 30 after his 2012 win while batting 32 points better than in the first half.
“I swing hard with accuracy,” said Fielder, who hit his 300th career homer Friday. “There’s somewhat of a controlled aggression to it. It enhances my aggressiveness along with my control. You’re trying to hit the ball out, but to hit a home run, you have to hit it perfect. The aggression and bat speed is going to be there. It kicks that in.”
Better than numbers
Shin-Soo Choo knows that most look at his numbers at the plate, and they’re not good of late.
He entered Monday batting .071 in three games on the Rangers’ road trip and was 6-for-49 (.122) with only three walks in his past 12 games.
But he feels like he has been playing better than those numbers, hitting balls hard but right at fielders, and having quality at-bats.
“That’s all I can do,” Choo said.
As such, the right fielder doesn’t plan to alter his swing or his approach. He seemed confident that more hits are coming.
“I wish I could get some hits,” Choo said. “In baseball there are a lot of negative things. Seven times out of 10 you’re going to fail, unless you’re a superstar. You don’t want to make extra negatives. I can only control hitting the ball hard.”
Briefly
▪ Right-hander Ross Ohlendorf (groin) is being stretched out on his rehab assignment so that he can give the Rangers multiple innings in relief. He is throwing every two or three days depending on how he feels.
▪ First baseman Kyle Blanks (Achilles tendon) saw foot specialist Dr. John Crates and has not resumed baseball activities.
▪ Left-hander Derek Holland (shoulder) is throwing at 120 feet and will have an MRI late this week to determine his next step.
▪ Right-hander Nick Tepesch (elbow) is continuing to rehab in Arizona and is scheduled to throw live batting practice Wednesday.
▪ The Rangers signed sixth-round pick Tyler Ferguson and 16th-rounder Tyler Phillips, and assigned the right-handers to the Arizona Rookie League. Outfielder Scott Heineman, the 11th-round pick, also signed but will have foot surgery Wednesday before rehabbing in Arizona.
Jeff Wilson, 817-390-7760
This story was originally published June 29, 2015 at 7:30 PM with the headline "Fielder won’t turn down offer to compete in Home Run Derby."