2014 MLB Home Run Derby Picks and Betting Odds
by Dave Schwab - 7/14/2014
Major League Baseball will take a break from its regular season schedule this week to stage its annual All-Star Game this Tuesday night at Target Field in Minnesota. As a warm up for all of this week's festivities, the fan-favorite Home Run Derby will be held on Monday night starting at 8 p.m. (ET).
To get you ready for all the action, BetOnline has released a number of MLB prop bet odds for this year's Home Run Derby, starting with odds to win. The player at the top of that list is Miami Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton at +240. He has belted 21 home runs this season in 353 at-bats, and his slugging percentage on the year is .538. This will be his first-ever appearance in the Home Run Derby, and the odds that he advances past the first two rounds and makes it into the finals have been set at +140.
The rest of the National League team, led by Troy Tulowitzki of the Colorado Rockies as captain, consists of his teammate Justin Morneau, Los Angeles slugger Yasiel Puig and Todd Frazier of Cincinnati. Of these four players, Puig has the next best odds to win at +500. This will be the Dodgers' right fielder's first trip to the Home Run Derby, and he comes into this competition with 12 home runs on the year in 343 at-bats.
If you are looking for the best value in the betting odds when it comes to the NL, I would go with Tulowitzki at +650. The Rockies shortstop will be appearing in his first Home Run Derby, and he comes into Tuesday's All-Star Game as the top vote getter in his league. He has is tied with Stanton at the top of the list for home runs in the NL with 21, and he is ranked second in the Majors in slugging percentage at .613. The odds to win for Frazier and Morneau are some of the longest on the board at +1200.
Toronto right fielder Jose Bautista was named captain of the American League team as its top vote getter. He will be joined by a pair of sluggers from Oakland in Josh Donaldson and Yoenis Cespedes as well as Minnesota's Brain Dozier and Baltimore's Adam Jones.
Cespedes has the best odds to win the Home Run Derby from the AL at +400 after winning last year's competition with a total of 32 blasts through the three rounds. His odds to advance to this year's finals have been set at +225. The A's left fielder has 14 home runs this season in 353 at-bats. His slugging percentage on the year is .442.
Bautista, along with Puig, has the third-best odds to win this event at +500, but the best value could be his +200 odds to reach the finals. He did not make it past the opening round in his first Home Run Derby in 2011, but the following year he made it all the way to the finals before coming up short against Prince Fielder 28-20. He did not participate in the Derby in 2013. So far this season, Bautista has belted 17 home runs in 317 at-bats.
Donaldson's odds to win the Home Run Derby have been set at +850, and his odds to reach the finals are +300. Next on the list from the AL is Jones at +1200 followed by Dozier at +1400, which are the longest odds on BetOnline's board.
If you want to wager on which league wins this year's Home Run Derby, the betting moneyline for the NL is set at -140, while the betting odds for the AL to win are set at +110. Given the fact that both Cespedes and Bautista represent the American League, there is definitely some value in those odds.
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Read more articles by Dave Schwab
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