MLB All-Star Home Run Derby: Twins Buxon Wood, Ekuna Junior, Rale

Minnesota Twins center fielder and Georgia native Byron Buxton was announced as the fourth participant in the Home Run Derby on Monday.

The derby will take place next Monday, the night before the All-Star Game, at Truist Park in Atlanta. The 31-year-old Buxton will be the eighth Twins hitter to take part in the derby, which Justin Morneau won in 2008.

Buxton joins Nationals outfielder James Wood, Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. and Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh in the eight-man competition. Buxton, who has 20 homers this season, is from Baxley, Georgia, and was the second overall pick by the Twins in the 2012 draft. In discussing his second All-Star selection with reporters on Sunday, Buxton beamed as he described the excitement of his 11-year-old son, Brix, who regularly plays the Home Run Derby on the “MLB: The Show” video game at home.

“He always is like, ‘Dad, if you do this, I want to bring you a towel!’ and I’m like, ‘All right.’ That’s all he cares about. He wants Dad to do it so he can bring me a towel and a Gatorade. And for me, that’s special,” Buxton said. “Out of everybody there, all the people he’s going to see, that’s what he wants and cares about. So it’s the small things that add up to the big ones.”

New York Mets slugger and two-time winner Pete Alonso joined Philadelphia designated hitter Kyle Schwarber and Kansas City shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. in electing to skip the event. Those players confirmed their decisions to reporters over the course of Sunday and Monday.

Alonso was selected as a National League reserve for the All-Star Game in a season when he’s hit 20 homers. He won the Home Run Derby in 2019 and 2021. It wasn’t held in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’m not necessarily called this year to do it. I love the event. It’s a sick event. I just didn’t really feel motivated to do it this year,” Alonso said on Sunday, according to MLB.com. “I just figured I’d take a break, use the break as recovery and get back at it, help the team win in the second half.”

Although he’s not participating this summer, Schwarber left the door open to taking part next season when the All-Star Game is held in Philadelphia. Schwarber has 27 homers this season and made his third All-Star team.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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