The 2018 home run derby will probably take place without Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez of the Boston Red Sox. Both refused to participate at the request of reporters. Previously, last year’s winner Aaron Judge had already given up on the New York Yankees.
“Hell no!”, Betts said when asked by the Boston Globe if he wanted to participate in the home run derby in Washington, DC. “I don’t hit home runs at Batting Practice. I’m not that kind of hitter.”
He still leads the MLB with 16 home runs. Team-mate Martinez is currently at the top of 15 long balls. But he is not interested in the event on the eve of the All-Star Game either.
His reasoning: When he had beaten 25 home runs in the service of the Detroit Tigers before the All-Star Break in 2015, the league did not invite him to the event. “MLB didn’t want me,” Martinez said now: “I thought I had the opportunity to participate, but they said no. You wanted other people, all those young boys. Then I said,’Forget it. I will never attend again.'”
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This article was published without previous view by the Major League Baseball.