Chris Young Added to Home Run Derby
By Scott Allen
Arizona Diamondbacks center fielder and all-star Chris Young was added to the State Farm Home Run Derby on Monday in Anaheim. The derby will be at 5pm on ESPN and Sports 620 KTAR. This is a bit of a surprise announcement given the power of Mark Reynolds. I would have had him pegged as a participant before Young, but let’s not forget Young can hit the ball a long ways as well.
There are pros and cons of having Young in the contest.
The pros:
- More national exposure
- He deserves it with the year he is having
- Gives the Dbacks some credibility (if there is any out there to give)
The cons:
- Deletes Monday as a rest day as a spectator
- Can get him into a second half swing that creates more strikeouts and pop ups – much of what we saw in 2009 (Personally I don’t buy this one though, but I know a lot of people will). Young I think is grounded enough to not let this affect his game once he returns from the break.
Let’s all cheer him on! We could use some positive news around the Dbacks these days. Go get ’em Chris!