Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant To Compete In Home Run Derby

 Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant To Compete In Home Run Derby

Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant To Compete In Home Run Derby
July 8, 2015 5:32 PM
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Kris Bryant, left, is congratulated by Anthony Rizzo. (Getty Images)

Kris Bryant, left, is congratulated by Anthony Rizzo. (Getty Images)
Related Tags: Anthony Rizzo, Chicago Cubs, Kris Bryant, Recurrent

(CBS)
Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo and third baseman Kris Bryant will
compete in the Home Run Derby on Monday night as part of the festivities
at the All-Star Game at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati.

It
will be the first time each player has participated in the Derby. Rizzo
is making his second All-Star appearance, while the rookie Bryant is
making his debut. Rizzo has 16 homers this season, tied for 20th in
baseball. Bryant has 12 homers, though he missed nearly two weeks at the
start of the season because of service time considerations.

Bryant
hasn’t “officially” asked his father, Mike, to pitch to him in the
Derby, he said in an ESPN interview, but it’s likely that’s who he’ll
choose. Bryant admitted the two had talked through the years how cool it
would be for Mike to pitch to his son.

In a new format, Rizzo is
the sixth seed and face Toronto’s Josh Donaldson in the first round.
Bryant is the eighth seed and will face the Los Angeles Angels’ Albert
Pujols in the first round. There’s eight players in the field, and they
were seeded by home run totals.



This season, the Derby will be a
bracket-style, single-elimination competition. It will also have timed
rounds, with each player getting five minutes to hit as many homers as
he can. There’s no longer a set number of “outs” that brings a player’s
round to a close.
Participants can also receive bonus time for
hitting two homers in the same round projected at 420 feet or more or
one homer projected at 475 feet or more.
Monday's HR Derby (8 ET, ESPN) now includes timed rounds and a single-elimination bracket, which was just revealed.