MLB Betting Online: Legendary sluggers and the best power-hitting rookies take aim at the title of champion in the new look Home Run Derby on Monday.
You can bet on the Home Run Derby at BookMaker. The world’s leading online sportsbook will post individual and head-to-head props, along with futures odds for the outright winner. BookMaker will also offer a multitude of gambling options for the 2015 MLB All-Star Game.
The 2015 Gillette Home Run Derby presented by Head & Shoulders is getting a significant makeover. This year's Home Run Derby will now play out as a bracket-style, timed event. The eight-player field will be organized into a single-elimination bracket, lasting three rounds.
Instead of a set number of "outs" per round, each player this year will have five minutes to hit as many home runs as possible. A running clock will begin counting down upon release of the first pitch, though it will stop for any home run hit during the final minute. The clock will stop immediately after those home run balls land and will not begin again until a non-home run ball lands or the batter swings and misses.
Hitters will also be awarded bonus time for showcasing some extra pop. Contestants will receive an additional minute of swings if they hit two home runs projected to land 420 feet during a single turn, as well as another 30 seconds if they hit a blast of at least 475 feet. All distances will be measured using Statcast™.
“I'm up for change, so we'll see how it goes,” said Reds third baseman Todd Frazier, who finished second in the 2014 Home Run Derby at Target Field in Minneapolis. “It's in a good park for home runs and I'll be ready.”
The Derby will follow an exciting new format featuring brackets, timed rounds and bonuses based on home run distances, with players seeded from the start according to their season home run total prior to July 7. They are seeded and matched up in the following order:
2015 Home Run Derby Brackets
No. 1 Albert Pujols (Los Angeles Angels) 26 home runs
No. 8 Kris Bryant (Chicago Cubs) 12 home runs
No. 4 Joc Pederson (Los Angeles Dodgers) 20 home runs
No. 5 Manny Machado (Baltimore Orioles) 19 home runs
No. 2 Todd Frazier (Cincinnati Reds) 25 home runs
No. 7 Prince Fielder (Texas Rangers) 13 home runs
No. 3 Josh Donaldson (Toronto Blue Jays) 21 home runs
No. 6 Anthony Rizzo (Chicago Cubs) 16 home runs
If there are any head-to-head ties during any round, the two batters will compete in a 90-second swing-off during which the clock will not stop nor will any bonus time be awarded. The player with more home runs during those 90 seconds will advance to the next round.
To streamline the event even further, any round will immediately end in the event that the second hitter surpasses the first hitter's home run total for that round.
The obvious pick to win the Derby would be Pujols, whose 26 homers lead the American League and is just one behind MLB leader Giancarlo Stanton. However this is Todd Frazier’s home park. Not only will Frazier have the fan support, he also knows the yard with 59 of his 98 career homers tagged in Great American Ball Park.
The park also plays long to left-handed hitters giving NL’ers Anthony Rizzo and Joc Pederson an edge. The wind tunnel that blows to right-center field gives the lefty pull hitters a huge advantage. Pederson had a few monumental blasts at Coors Field earlier this year, both estimated to be over 470 feet, and his swing is perfect for this event.
Rizzo has 16 long balls this season but should be considered a long-shot at claiming the title with a swing that produces more line drives to the gaps than fly balls over the wall.
Kris Bryant has the fewest home runs during the season of any participant and is a right-handed hitter, but he’s our sleeper pick in the Derby. Bryant has raw power and nearly damaged the new gazillion-dollar video board behind the left field bleachers at Wrigley Field with a 477-foot homer back in May.
Bryant’s father taught him how to hit when Kris was a youngster and dad will be throwing to him in the Derby. Now this could go terribly wrong for the younger Bryant if he doesn’t succeed on the big stage, but this kid is the real deal and will be crowned the new Home Run Derby champion.
BookMaker will be the first online sportsbook to send out the baseball odds for this marquee matchup. Since this game can be seen by anyone with a TV, BookMaker will have a multitude of wagering options available for it. Outside of the normal lines, you can gamble on real-time moneylines, player props and inning totals. Live betting is open during every commercial break!
Need to fund your account before the big game but don’t have your computer? No problem, BookMaker Sportsbook now offers a mobile betting cashier so you can deposit money directly from your smartphone. Don’t miss out on getting paid because you couldn’t bet, click here and deposit at BookMaker now! The Gillette Home Run Derby presented by Head & Shoulders will start at 8 p.m. ET on Monday July 13, 2015, at Great American Ball Park. The competition will be broadcast live nationally on ESPN.
