As David Wright and Robinson Cano are the 2013 Home Run Derby captains, this ensures that the fans will be pleased with the participants regardless of who wins the competition. In a perfect world, Wright will get crowned since he's the host of the games. However, the captains have to pick teammates and here are the three top candidates in each league.
It's obvious, Cano has to pick Chris Davis. New York Yankee fans are familiar with Davis. He's hit six home runs against the Yankees this season alone and he's the MLB home run leader with 33 bombs. He can keep the crown in the American League with his pop and he's currently on pace to break the original single season home run record (61) set by Roger Maris in 1961.
Based on ESPN's stats, they believe Nelson Cruz should get a pick over Miguel Cabrera. However, with the year the defending A.L. MVP has had, he might be a better choice. In previous years, Cabrera has participated in the tournament twice. He's never made it outside of the second round, but Cabrera can destroy baseballs.
Mark Trumbo is an obvious chose. He has the longest home run in the season and last season fell short of the championship round by a home run as Jose Bautista outslugged the Angel in a swing-off. Trumbo finished with 13 home runs in last year's competition.
Just let this sink in.
National League Team
The N.L. has the No. 3 and No. 4 home run leaders in Carlos Gonzalez and Dominic Brown. However, one player who the Mets fans might not really like, but has hit bombs in the early portion of the season is Justin Upton. ESPN points out that Upton has averaged a distance of 427.9 feet per home run. A bulk of them came in April as the Braves' left fielder has only hit three since then. He's also the only player with two home runs that have traveled over 460 feet this season.
Then there's Pedro Alvarez. Wright might play for New York, but Alvarez is the true New Yorker as he was raised in Washington Heights in northern Manhattan, about a 30-minute drive from Citi Field. Alvarez is one of the reasons why the Pittsburgh Pirates have the best record in baseball. He's smacked 22 home runs and is the true definition of hit or miss as the third baseman is hitting .246 with 104 strikeouts, but he can't do as bad as Cano did in 2012 at Kansas City.
Jay Bruce is the final candidate as he's gotten hotter than New York weather. He's hit five home runs that have traveled over 430 feet. He has a total of 18 home runs, sixth in the N.L.
