These 7 HR Derby debuts would make for some glorious dingers

We already know that Julio Rodríguez will be looking to play the role of hometown hero in the 2023 T-Mobile Home Run Derby, set for July 10 at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park. It will be a thrill to see a young talent like J-Rod back in the Derby after his sensational performance in last year’s event.

But will some sluggers who haven’t competed before take their cuts as well? Mookie Betts has said that he plans to do so, assuming he is named an All-Star, which would bring a huge first-timer into the field.

With that in mind, we asked seven MLB.com writers to pick one other player they would want to see take on the Derby for the first time. The only stipulation was that the player must be an active Major Leaguer without a previous Derby appearance. Here are the results:

Elly De La Cruz, Reds
Key stat: 7 114+ mph home runs in 2023 across MLB & Triple-A

We won’t discuss how quickly I opened the doc to ensure that I could pick De La Cruz … but he was such a deserving first pick, and that’s what matters. We saw what he could do in the Minors, like when he had three batted balls at 116-plus mph in a game, something no Major Leaguer has done in a game under Statcast (since 2015).

Then, he got to the Majors and his first homer was 114.8 mph, the second-hardest by a batter for his first homer tracked by Statcast. It went 458 feet, the fifth-longest by a batter for his first homer in that span. And he’s continued to impress since.

The other factor, which makes him so electric and would make him such an outstanding Derby participant? He’s already shown himself to be a great showman, like when he declared himself the fastest man in the world. That’s the energy we want to see.

-- Sarah Langs

Corbin Carroll, D-backs
Key stat: Leads all rookies with 16 home runs

It wouldn’t exactly be Spud Webb winning the 1986 NBA Dunk Contest, but imagine a 165-pound rookie besting established sluggers like Pete Alonso and other hulking power hitters in the Home Run Derby.

If you think Carroll winning a Home Run Derby is a long shot, just consider what he’s done while making himself the favorite to win the National League Rookie of the Year Award: there are only four qualified batters with a higher slugging percentage than Carroll’s .558, and with a 14-game homer binge earlier this month in which he launched seven over the fence, he vaulted himself to the top of the rookie home run leaderboard.

Over that span from June 4-19, Carroll hit .382/.452/.927 to not only put some distance between himself and the field when it comes to NL Rookie of the Year candidates, but also to make him a fun candidate to raise some eyebrows during the Home Run Derby at T-Mobile Park in a couple of weeks.

-- Manny Randhawa

Joey Votto, Reds
Key stat: 343 career HR (5th on active list)

Only Mike Trout has hit more homers among active players but never appeared in a Derby. And let’s be honest: Votto probably isn’t doing it this year, either. After all, the 39-year-old didn’t come off the injured list to make his 2023 debut until last Monday, although he did then hit three homers in his first four games. But this is a wish list -- not a prediction -- and how fun would it be to watch Votto take on the Derby in what might be his final season? (As Albert Pujols did a year ago.) Who would have more fun doing it than one of baseball’s most interesting characters? What theatrics would he cook up for the occasion?

In 2017, before he ultimately passed on doing the Derby, Votto told the Cincinnati Enquirer that “of course” he thought he could win the event. When asked about a comparison to Ichiro Suzuki, he jokingly added: “Just think of me as the Canadian Ichiro – Japan has theirs and Canada has theirs. Yes, I could pull homers into the seats at will.”

Is that still true six years later? Sign me up to find out.

-- Andrew Simon

Rafael Devers, Red Sox
Key stat: 14th in HRs since 2018

Only 13 players have hit more homers since Devers’ first full season in 2018, and of them, only three have not participated in a Derby -- Eugenio Suárez, Mookie Betts and Paul Goldschmidt. Betts has said if named an All-Star, he will take part in his first Derby in 2023. Devers, who has 18 homers this year and is tied for third in MLB with 60 RBIs, would be a great addition to this year’s Derby field.

The 26-year-old Red Sox slugger is coming off back-to-back All-Star appearances after hitting a combined 65 home runs between 2021 and 2022. Devers doesn’t hit wall-scrapers, either; he has hit four career homers 450 feet or farther and 13 long balls measured at 440 feet or more. Barely more than half of Devers’ career homers have been pulled, meaning he has power to all fields -- always an advantage in a Home Run Derby.

Devers declined a Derby invitation in 2021, saying he “feels like he's not a home run hitter in BP.” Still, his career power numbers make him an enticing candidate to make his Derby debut.

-- Theo DeRosa

Adolis García, Rangers
Key stat: 34 barrels in 2023 (6th in MLB)

While García is second behind only Shohei Ohtani on the MLB RBI leaderboard with 63, in this case, we want to see what he can do when the bases are empty. If his advanced statistics are any indication, he should be able to put on a show.

García ranks in the 90th percentile or better in each of the following Statcast metrics this season: average exit velocity, maximum exit velocity, hard-hit rate, barrel rate and expected slugging percentage. In other words, this is someone who hits the ball far, and hard, often. In what’s been a breakout season both for him and the Rangers as a whole, it would only be fitting to have García spend the All-Star break facing off against MLB’s top sluggers.

-- Cole Jacobson

Austin Riley, Braves
Key stat: Four 450-foot home runs in 2023 (T-2nd in MLB)

Riley can provide what we, as fans, want most out of any Home Run Derby: gargantuan, indelible, physics-defying homers. He clubbed 21 no-doubters last season, which trailed only Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber, the HR leader in each league. Although his overall production has drooped this season, Riley has already launched four balls at least 450 feet. That’s the second-most such clouts in MLB, behind only teammate Ronald Acuña Jr., who has six. Riley’s monstrous crush jobs include both the longest and hardest-hit home runs of his career.

Even if Riley doesn’t win the Derby, his penchant for long-distance dingers could lead to a performance that ranks among the most memorable moments in the event’s history.

-- Brian Murphy

Jack Suwinski, Pirates
Key stat: 12 no-doubt HRs (T-3rd in MLB)

The Pirates have never had a Derby winner. It's been four years since they even had a participant. That would naturally position someone like Suwinski, a relatively low-key guy on a scuffling team, as an underdog. Don't be fooled: this guy can absolutely mash.

Suwinski, who debuted in 2022, flashed plenty of power in his rookie season, and he’s only getting better. You may already be aware of his staggering number of no-doubt home runs. He’s already on the cusp of surpassing his 2022 home run total in about two-thirds as many games. Of all the sluggers in today's game, he’s maintaining a spot in the top five in barrel rate. But perhaps most exciting, since we are talking about the Derby, is his average launch angle (25.1 degrees), which leads baseball. Point being, if you’re looking for moonshots -- and aren’t we all? -- here’s a guy who can provide them.

-- Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru