Should you bet on Kyle Schwarber to win the 2022 Home Run Derby? He has intriguing odds
Former Chicago Cubs slugger Kyle Schwarber will be competing in the Home Run Derby for a second time in his career. He may not be wearing a Cubs jersey anymore sadly, but always will be rooting for a guy who helped bring a World Series to the Cubs franchise. Just not when they are playing against the Cubs of course.
With the Cubs sitting near the bottom of the standings in the whole league you have to look for as many positives as possible. Yes, I am counting a former Cubs player being in the Home Run Derby as a positive for this team right now. Tough times call for tough measures and this is one of them. The All Star break is fast approaching and it could not have come at a better time for the Cubs who have lost nine games in a row going into Sunday afternoons matchup against the New York Mets.
The Cubs do have two players who will be making the trip out to Los Angeles to play in the All Star Game on Tuesday night on the national stage. Willson Contreras and Ian Happ will be suiting up for the National League. This will be Contreras third All Star game appearance in his career. Contreras will now have started in all three appearances as well behind the plate. This upcoming Tuesday will be the first All Star appearance for Happ in his career. The Cubs will have no one from their active roster competing in the popular Home Run Derby this year which makes it even easier to root for Schwarber to win the whole thing.
Back in 2018, Kyle Schwarber competed in the Home Run Derby when he was still a member of the Cubs organization. He was very impressive in it before losing to his eventual future teammate Bryce Harper in the final round.
Kyle Schwarber enters this years Home Run Derby as the number one seed with the most home runs of anybody in the contest with 29 home runs as of Saturday. He is only trailing New York Yankees star Aaron Judge by two home runs who leads the MLB with 31 home runs heading into Sunday. Schwarber faces off against a future Hall of Fame player in Albert Pujols in the first round. Then a possible second round matchup against either Juan Soto or Jose Ramirez in the second round. Both Soto and Ramirez are two of the great young stars in the game of baseball right now.
Kyle Schwarber with his 29th HR!
Leads the National League and is 2 short of Aaron Judge for MLB lead
pic.twitter.com/otLR4XNFKi— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) July 16, 2022
Schwarber vs. Alonso in the finals would be must see television
If the favorites win in every matchup this would mean that the finals of the Home Run Derby would be Schwarber going up against the two time defending champion in Pete Alonso. According to DraftKings, Schwarber comes into this competition as the second favorite with odds at +330. Alonso sits as the favorite with +200 as of late Saturday night.
With how Schwarber has been hitting home runs this year I would definitely suggest throwing a few bucks on him to win the whole thing on Monday night under the bright lights in Los Angeles. Schwarber helped bring a lot of great moments throughout his Cubs career that fans will never forget.
Many kids (and adults) around the world have dreamed about winning the Home Run Derby. The former Cubs slugging outfielder in Schwarber has a chance to turn it into a reality in a few days. A Home Run Derby trophy for Schwarber would look great with his World Series ring from 2016.
Will Kyle Schwarber win it all? When it is all said and done on Monday night I truly do believe Kyle Schwarber will be holding the trophy to the crowd after putting on an absolute show for the fans. Schwarber is obviously no longer on the Cubs as he is now a member of the Philadelphia Phillies, but he will have a lot of Cubs fans rooting for him to be the next Home Run Derby champion. Go make Cubs fans proud out there on Monday night Schwarber.
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