An American League player has won the MLB Home Run Derby in five of the past six years, but Miami Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton is the +300 betting favorite (wager $100 to win $300) for Monday’s event at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark. Stanton has 20 home runs heading into the break.
Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant leads the National League with 25 homers, but he will not be participating in the Home Run Derby. The current MLB leader is Mark Trumbo of the Baltimore Orioles with 28, and he is listed as the +375 second choice.
Third choice Wil Myers (+550) will be the local favorite as a member of the hometown San Diego Padres.
This year’s MLB All-Star Game festivities will take place at San Diego’s Petco Park, where Myers has hit 13 of his 19 homers this season. The Padres first baseman has hit only one this month, and that came at home against the New York Yankees on July 1.
Home-field advantage worked out well last year for third baseman Todd Frazier, who won the contest with the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Frazier was traded to the Chicago White Sox in the offseason and is tied with Bryant for the second-most homers in MLB with 25.
Frazier ended a five-year reign for AL sluggers who had won the Home Run Derby, becoming the first NL batter to win it since Prince Fielder in 2009. The previous hometown player to win it was Ryne Sandberg of the Cubs in 1990.
In addition, Trumbo, Stanton, Myers and Frazier are all favored to win their first-round matchups on the 2016 Home Run Derby odds. Trumbo is -175 chalk (bet $175 to win $100) against Corey Seager (+145) of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Stanton is also -175 versus Robinson Cano (+135) of the Seattle Mariners.
Myers is a smaller -150 favorite against Adam Duvall (+110) of the Reds, while Frazier is -140 versus Carlos Gonzalez (+100) of the Colorado Rockies. The contest lasts three rounds and is based on head-to-head matchups in a single-elimination tournament until the champion is crowned.
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