PHILADELPHIA — Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong sounds uncertain about potentially participating in next year’s Home Run Derby at Wrigley Field.Wrigley will host its first All-Star Game since 1990 when the Midsummer Classic comes to the North Side in 2027. Last time, Cubs legend and Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg won the event at the Friendly Confines.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAs tempting as it would be to do it in front of his home crowd, Crow-Armstrong admitted Monday before the Home Run Derby at Citizens Bank Park that he isn’t sure if he’s the right type of hitter for the event.“I won’t probably do it as of right now, I mean, maybe I will, just being at home and everything, but that is a tiring couple hours and I don’t quite know if my swing is built for that,” Crow-Armstrong said. “If (the Nationals’) James Wood’s talking about fatigue and all that stuff then I should probably think long and hard about whether or not to do it.”Twenty-four hours later, while standing at his locker in the Phillies’ home clubhouse before the All-Star Game, Crow-Armstrong conceded he had revisited his indecisiveness about doing the derby at Wrigley following his initial comments.“I was just like, man, I feel like it’s more something that I owe to Cubs fans and all that, if they want to see me in there,” Crow-Armstrong said.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAt the same time, Crow-Armstrong said teammate Seiya Suzuki, who is a free agent after this season, would be a better choice for next year’s Home Run Derby, believing he would be the more entertaining hitter.Crow-Armstrong obviously doesn’t need to make those decisions now, a year away from the Wrigley’s All-Star festivities and with more baseball ahead of him to earn that honor for a third consecutive year.Watching slugger Junior Caminero, who was part of Monday’s derby, take batting practice whenever the Cubs play the Tampa Bay Rays had Crow-Armstrong thinking, “I don’t know if I can hang with that guy.”But could someone sway him to participate?AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I mean, we’ll see,” Crow-Armstrong said. “There’s a lot of people that could probably sway me to do it. I’m not totally closed off to the idea. It’s just an intimidating thought, man. It really is.”This year’s new derby format is likely to suit Crow-Armstrong, too. Instead of having to swing against a timer, each hitter had 20 swings each round — plus the bonus ball that gave them another swing — no matter how many went yard.“If I know I’ve got 20 pitches to work with, I’m sure it would help me out a lot,” he noted.Former teammate Cody Bellinger, who was part of the derby field in 2017, envisions Crow-Armstrong holding his own in the event. Crow-Armstrong rarely takes on-field batting practice during the season, preferring to get in his pregame work in the batting cage, which Bellinger said could make the derby a little more
Content Source: Yahoo News
Image Credit: Getty Images
All rights to the news content and images belong to their respective copyright owners.