Major League Baseball home run leader Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals Bryce Harper will join celebrated long-ball hitting veterans in the All-Star Home Run Derby lineup announced on Monday.
American League Derby captain Robinson Cano of the New York Yankees chose Baltimore first baseman Davis, who has 33 homers this season and Prince Fielder of the Detroit Tigers, who won his second Derby crown at last year's game, to join him on the squad.
Cano, also a former winner of the home run contest, said he was leaving his fourth spot open to hear back from his final choice for the AL squad that will compete at spacious Citi Field on the eve of the July 16 All-Star game.
National League team captain David Wright, a runner-up in the 2006 Derby, designated Colorado's corner outfielders, Carlos Gonzalez and Michael Cuddyer, to join Harper and him on the Derby team.
Gonzalez leads the National League in home runs with 24. Harper, making his second All-Star appearance and first start despite being just 20-years-old, has 13 homers in just 175 at-bats due to injuries. Cuddyer has 15 and Wright 13.
Cano has gone deep 20 times entering Monday's action, and he has averaged 30 a season for the past three years. Fielder has hit at least 30 home runs for six straight seasons, including 50 in 2007.
(Reuters Quotes)
