Why Not Let a Minor Leaguer Participate In The Home Run Derby?

Image credit: 2024 MLB All-Star Home Run Derby at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas on Monday July 15, 2024

During the 2024 Home Run Derby, the two finalists from the High School Home Run Derby got a chance to swing for the fences in front of a sold-out crowd. It’s a great moment each year, as it gives fans a chance to say they saw the stars of tomorrow—Bobby Witt Jr., Riley Greene and Hunter Greene are a few of the names to remember from past High School Home Run Derbies—smashing dingers on a national stage before they became household names.

They high schoolers swing with metal bats, and it’s a separate competition that is tacked onto the MLB Home Run Derby.Unfortunately, it isn’t aired on the television broadcast (they go to commercial).

Here’s a suggestion in the same vein that likely will never come to anything but would make derby day even more fun: Why not add a MiLB slugger to the MLB Home Run Derby?

Again, it’s unlikely to ever happen, but let me make the case.

Fans love an underdog story. What’s more of an underdog than having one minor league swing alongside MLB stars, especially when there is a $1 million prize on the line? No one, no matter how rich, is going to look askance at $1 million. For a MiLB player, especially if they weren’t a first round pick or a top international signee, a win would mean life-altering money.

Still not convinced? Just look at Mac McLung, the show-stopping, high-flying G League star who made boatloads of basketball headlines after not only taking part in, but actually winning the NBA Slum Dunk Contest in back-to-back years despite not being an NBA player.

So here’s the idea: Take the skills competition in the Futures Game and replace it with an MiLB Home Run Derby. Have four-to-six MiLB sluggers swing for a shot in the MLB Home Run Derby two days later.

The crowd at the Skills Competition on Saturday got most engaged when Roman Anthony went on a home run tear. Fans love home runs, everyone knows this. So why not give the fans what they want while also giving some MiLB stars a chance to show off what they can do on a bigger stage?

If Joey Gallo had been allowed to participate in the MLB Home Run Derby in 2014, I’d have given him a solid shot to have beaten Yoenis Cespedes. He may not have been in the majors, but even back then Gallo’s batting practices were worth showing up three hours early to watch.

I don’t know if any current MiLB prospects would be a top candidate to win the MLB home run derby, but here’s my rundown of some obvious and not-so-obvious candidates who could have made some noise this week.

Coby Mayo, 3B, Orioles

Mayo’s power can be measured in megawatts. He’s hit 51 home runs in 209 MiLB games since the 2023 season began. His swing is well-suited for ripping home run after home run in a derby setting, and he’s also one of the best prospects in baseball, so it would be a fitting way to grow his star power before a national audience.

Roman Anthony, OF, Red Sox

Anthony has massive power. As he showed during the Skills Competition, he also has the ability to stack homers, which is valuable in a contest where consistency and the ability to string mammoth home runs together provides a benefit in the bonus round.

Deyvison De Los Santos, 1B, D-backs

De Los Santos hit what appeared to be the longest home run in the Futures Game batting practice session. He reached the concourse in left field at Globe Life Field with a bomb that compares to anything we’ve seen in the MLB Home Run Derby. He’s also the current MiLB leader with 27 home runs. Ensuring the midseason MiLB home run leader is invited to this hypothetical MiLB Home Run Derby just makes sense.

Junior Caminero, 3B, Rays

Because Caminero has been hurt for much of the year, it’s easy to forget that he has some of the best power in the game. He’s working his way back with a rehab stint in the Complex League, which means he probably wouldn’t be cleared to play in the derby this week, but we can dream.

Here are a couple of more off-the-wall or deeper prospect picks:

Luken Baker, 1B, Cardinals

Baker hasn’t been able to crack the Cardinals’ MLB lineup for long, but he’s the current king of MiLB sluggers. He’s hit 119 MiLB home runs in 549 games, including 79 homers in Triple-A. Giving MiLB’s most consistent slugger a national stage would be a wonderful moment.

Tony Blanco Jr., 1B, Pirates

Blanco has only 10 MiLB home runs and has yet to reach full-season ball. But if you’re asking who has the best raw power in the minors right now, Blanco has a good case. His max exit velocities last year and this year match those of pretty much anyone in the majors, and he’s only 19-years-old.

Carson McCusker, OF, Twins

If Blanco doesn’t have the best raw power in the minors, it’s because McCusker may top him. McCusker is a true underdog story, as he spent a year in the partner Frontier League before being signed by the Twins. He strikes out a lot, but that’s not really an issue in a Home Run Derby. Want to see a ball hit 450+ feet? Bring McCusker to the plate and groove pitches at him.

Rece Hinds, OF, Reds

Hinds isn’t eligible at this moment, as he was just called up to the majors, but he does remain prospect eligible at this point. If you watched any of what Hinds did for the Reds this past week, you don’t need an explanation for why he could be a star in a Home Run Derby.

And if you want to really go off the wall …

Charlie Condon, OF, Georgia

Jac Caglianone, 1B, Florida

Hey, they haven’t signed yet, but the restrictions against players benefitting from their name, image and likeness have already been taken away and direct pay for play is coming. Add the two best sluggers from the draft and tie it into the draft being during All-Star Week.