MIAMI — You couldn’t blame if he felt a tad out of place.
There he was, surrounded by the most powerful sluggers in baseball, including rookie Aaron Judge, who smashed four home runs of more than 500 feet en route to winning the Home Run Derby on Monday night at Marlins Park.
“Home runs aren’t my thing,” Blackmon said prior to the event. “It’s definitely not just (batting practice) for me. You come watch my BP, I’m flipping balls over the shortstop. I’m going to have to do something a little different.”
The Rockies’ all-star center fielder certainly did that.
The bearded wonder represented, hitting 14 homers in the first round at an average of 413 feet. His longest blast traveled 434 feet and his average exit velocity was 103.6 mph, according to Statcast.
Unfortunately for Blackmon, he lost a heartbreaker to the Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger. The L.A. rookie hit his second 440-foot homer with 5 seconds left to earn 30 seconds of bonus time, and then blasted the two homers he needed to oust Blackmon, 15 to 14.
Bellinger advanced to the second round, where he was defeated by Judge.
“I had a great time,” Blackmon said. “It was a lot of fun, and I was glad to be a part of it all.”
Rockies bullpen coach Darren Holmes, who pitched to Blackmon, was thrilled with Blackmon’s effort, but disappointed he didn’t advance.
“It was a blast to be a part of this,” Holmes said. “Charlie did a great job. He didn’t miss very many. He probably missed three or four that were right there. He popped some up or hit some duck hooks, but he did great.”
Added , Colorado’s all-star second baseman and Blackmon’s close friend: “He did awesome. He got on a nice roll too, hitting about five or six in a row.”
LeMahieu said he thought Blackmon was nervous beforehand. Blackmon admitted as much.
“Yeah, I guess I was pretty nervous leading up to it,” he said. “I was more nervous just making sure my body was ready to go. I was kind of discombobulated because this wasn’t a normal game day. There is no such thing as routine for the Home Run Derby, because that was my first one.”
Asked if he met his own expectations, Blackmon replied: “My goal was to hit one, and I did 13 better than that. So, yeah, I did a little bit better than I thought I was going to do.”
Blackmon’s 14 homers rank as the third most by a Rockies player in the derby, behind Larry Walker’s 19 in 1997 and Michael Cuddyer’s 15 in 2013.
Blackmon might be a leadoff hitter, but he has shown plenty of pop in his bat. He launched a 477-foot shot over the visiting bullpen in the sixth inning Sunday at as the Rockies drubbed the Chicago White Sox, 10-0. He’ll enter the second half of the season with a team-high 20 home runs. In fact, Blackmon is just the second player in major-league history to hit at least 20 home runs and 10 triples before the break. Jim Rice did it twice for the during the 1970s.
Tuesday night, Blackmon will start in center fielder for the National League.
