Tampa Bay Rays Slugger Officially Joins Home Run Derby Field
Tampa Bay Rays star Randy Arozarena hit a two-run homer on Friday night in the Rays win over the Seattle Mariners, and he's hoping to hit a bunch more homers in Seattle in July.
The Rays slugger officially confirmed that he's entering the Home Run Derby as part of the All-Star festivities in Seattle on July 10.
He joins a loaded field including Julio Rodriguez (Seattle Mariners), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Toronto Blue Jays) and Mookie Betts (Los Angeles Dodgers).
The powerful outfielder is hitting .288 this year, serving as a catalyst for the Rays, who have the best record in baseball at 57-28. He's also added 15 homers and 57 RBI while stealing nine bases.
He debuted in 2019 with the St. Louis Cardinals but landed with the Rays during the COVID 2020 season. He helped Tampa to the World Series that season and is a lifetime .273 hitter with 63 homers and 228 RBI.
It's interesting to see that of the four participants confirmed thus far, three of them are American League representatives (Arozarena, Rodriguez and Guerrero). Also, all four participants thus far are right-handed. You'd have to imagine that the next wave of competitors will skew left-handed and National League.
Luis Gonzalez of the Arizona Diamondbacks won the Home Run Derby the last time it was in Seattle (2001).
Arozarena was also named a starter for the American League in the outfield for the All-Star Game itself, taking place on July 11.
The Rays will take on the Mariners again on Saturday night at 7:15 p.m. ET.
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