Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Logan Morrison is having a great year. His 24 home runs are tied for the second-most in the American League (behind that Judge guy), and his .256/.366/.579 triple slash is far and away the best of his major league career.
But Morrison won’t be in next Monday’s Home Run Derby, and he’ll only be at the All-Star Game festivities if he wins MLB’s Final Vote competition (as of Tuesday morning, he was last among AL players).
The outspoken first baseman lashed out about MLB’s choices to represent the American League in the Home Run Derby, specifically Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez (13 home runs in 53 games) and Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas (23 homers in 74 games heading into play on Tuesday).
“Gary shouldn’t be there,” Morrison said. “Gary’s a great player, but he shouldn’t be in the Home Run Derby.”
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“It’s not even about that, Moustakas should be there,” Morrison said.
Morrison seemed to claim the fact that he plays for the Rays is a reason why he’s not in the Derby.
“I’m not disappointed. It’s par for the course. I play for the Rays. I get it. They can’t even get my picture right. When they put my name up there they put Corey (Dickerson’s) picture up there … on MLB Network. When they put up the home run leaders they put Corey’s swing on there not mine.”
A member of the Rays hasn’t participated in the Derby since Carlos Pena in 2009, the season after Tampa Bay won the AL pennant. The AL team that year was managed by then-Tampa Bay skipper Joe Maddon.
But is it really that surprising that baseball chose a member of baseball’s most popular team (Sanchez, of the Yankees) and a member of the 2015 World Champions (Moustakas, of the Royals) to join Aaron Judge and Miguel Sano on the team? Of course it isn’t.
Sure, it’s crappy that one of baseball’s most prolific home run hitters (this season, at least) won’t be in the Derby, but Joey Votto and George Springer (who each also have 24 homers) won’t be there. Neither will Khris Davis (23), Marcell Ozuna, or Justin Smoak (all 22). Four of those five (with Davis as the exception) are all All-Stars, so including them in the Derby would have made more sense than including Morrison, who is on the Final Vote ballot with Moustakas, Xander Bogaerts, Didi Gregorius, and Elvis Andrus.
I get where Morrison is coming from. I really do. He’s having a career year, and feels like he’s not getting the recognition he deserves. That’s fine. But with so many home runs in the game today (a whopping 16 players came into play on Tuesday with at least 20 dingers), some deserving sluggers are going to fall by the wayside. That’s what happened to Morrison with his Derby snub.
