Carlos Gonzalez will be competing in the Home Run Derby on Monday night for the second time in his career, and he is optimistic about his chances to win.
“I am really excited. This is the second time I’m going to do it, and I like my chances,” Gonzalez told Sean Walsh on the Weekend Drive after the Rockies win on Saturday. “Hopefully I can put on a good show for the fans and try and win the trophy and bring it back to Denver.”
Gonzalez will be competing against last year’s winner, Todd Frazier, in the first round.
The derby is going to be formatted a little differently this year, though. Instead of each player getting ten outs per round, it will be a bracket style of play where the hitters go head to head in five minute rounds. Gonzalez is the seventh seed and will need to win three rounds to be crowned champion. Gonzalez only hit four home runs in the 2012 derby and will need to at least double that total if he wants to move on to the second round this year.
And once Gonzalez takes home that crown, he’s ready to parlay his success into a big-time second half run.
“We have a really good group right now,” Gonzalez said. “Hopefully we can stay healthy and put something together and have a special second half.”
To listen to more talk with CarGo, check out the podcast below …
Catch Weekend Drive with Sean Walsh every Saturday and Sunday from 2p-4p on Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7 or stream live any time for the best local coverage of Colorado sports from Denver’s biggest sports talk lineup.
