CINCINNATI — Andrew Yerzy woke up at 5:30 in the morning, started swinging at 8:00 a.m. and won himself a spot taking hacks with the big boys Monday night in between rounds of Major League Baseball’s annual home run derby.
The Canadian junior national team catcher from Toronto led all eight participants with 10 home runs in the qualifying rounds for the MLB’s High School Select Home Run derby, earning himself a spot in the final against Ron Washington Jr., of Missouri City, Texas, who went deep nine times.
They’ll each get three minutes to swing in the first round and then 15 pitches apiece in the second, with the most total homers winning the title. Josh Naylor, the Mississauga, Ont., native selected 12th overall by the Miami Marlins in last month’s draft, lost in last year’s final.
“Hopefully I can come in first and best him,” Yerzy said with a grin, although he did take some advice from Naylor to heart. “He told me to just have some fun with it and have a good time.”
That’s precisely what Yerzy did, also heeding the words of his hitting coach with the Toronto Mets, Hyung Cho, who said, “it’s the same swing you always have, you just have to be more selective with your pitches. That’s what I did, I was just looking for the right pitches to hit.”
The junior derby is held in between breaks of the home run derby, this year featuring the likes of Josh Donaldson, Prince Fielder, Albert Pujols and Todd Frazier. Still, the player Yerzy most wants to speak with is Bryce Harper, whose all-out style of play he admires.
“It would be interesting to pick his brain,” he said.
The focus, of course, will be on winning the derby, the first he’s ever participated in. The crowd at Great American Ball Park will also be far larger than any he’s ever played in front of before, and is something he’s also looking forward to.
“I’ve played in a couple of big-league ballparks before, the Rogers Centre and Tropicana Field, but this was awesome being able to hit in here,” he said of the qualifying rounds. “The ball really flies, so it was just an awesome experience.”
