Giancarlo Stanton Defeats Todd Frazier In Home Run Derby Finals
The Pride of Toms River Little League was unable to become the third player in MLB history to repeat as Home Run Derby Champion, falling in the Finals to the monster from the Miami Marlins, Giancarlo Stanton.
Stanton crushed Robinson Cano in the first round and beat Mark Trumbo in the semis. Todd Frazier had the advantage of batting second in both rounds and was able to pass Carlos Gonzalez and Adam Duvall.
Stanton led off the Finals and set the bar at 20 homers. Frazier put up a valiant effort but only launched 13.
Stanton dominated the field in every category. He set Statcast™ records for distance (497 feet) and exit velocity (120.4 mph). He had the 20 hardest-hit home runs of the night, and the 10 longest home runs. His average home run distance was 446 feet. The next highest was Trumbo at 432.8 feet. The other seven hitters combined for an average home run distance of 412 feet. Stanton's average exit velocity on home runs was 111.9 mph. The next highest was Trumbo at 108.5 mph. The other seven hitters had an average exit velocity of 105.4 mph on their homers. Stanton's home runs traveled a total projected distance of 27,187 feet, which is 5.15 miles and 9,918 feet more than any other competitor. Frazier was second with a total distance of 17,269 feet.