This is quite the collection of homeruns hitters as there is a pair of Marlins, a pair of Yankees, a pair of AL Central third baseman, and a pair of sluggers from the powerful NL West. Giancarlo Stanton is not only the hometown star, but the defending champ and tied for third with 26 homeruns this season. Aaron Judge has been a beast this year leading the majors with 30 homeruns, which is already a rookie record for the Yankees in a single season. Cody Bellinger has been monstrous for the first place Dodgers hitting 25 homeruns. Mike Moustakas also has 25 homeruns in the first half after just seven last year and 29 total homeruns over the last two seasons. Miguel Sano has 21 homeruns on the season thus far and you need power like his to hit them out in Target Field in Minnesota. Charlie Blackmon has 20 long balls in the first half and has shown a lot of power with 10 triples as well. Another hometown player is Justin Bour who has cranked out 20 homeruns and will look to make it an all Marlin finals if he can pull off some upsets. The 8th seed is Gary Sanchez who was a bit of a surprise pick especially by some further North in Florida as Sanchez has just 13 homeruns, but did miss some time.

Stanton vs. Sanchez is the 1/8 match up and Gary will try, but be no match for the hometown guy and defending champ who has the stamina, power, and knowledge of the park to cruise to a first round victory 18-10. Judge vs. Bour is the 2/7 match up and although Bour is a hometown guy with the crowd behind him Judge is just a beast. The thing with Judge is this is just normal batting practice and he leads the league in 400+ foot homeruns and nearly put one out 500 feet this year. Look for Judge to cruise like Stanton topping his opponent with a 20-12 victory. Bellinger vs. Blackmon is the 3/6 match up that is the most interesting...can Bellinger handle the bright lights and can Blackmon do it outside of Coors field where he has hit nearly 2/3 of his homeruns? The answer to both is yes, with Blackmon the veteran edging out Bellinger 17-15 to advance. The Moustakas vs. Sano is the 4/5 match up that is the biggest toss up of the first round. Moustakas has more homeruns thus far this season, but I think he is too streaky and will tire as Sano is more consistent and will advance 16-14.

Round two presents us with Judge against Blackmon and Stanton against Sano. Judge against Blackmon is a 2 vs. 6 as Blackmon will look to pull off another upset. Although Judge is a rookie he is still solid physically and mentally to be poised in the box and continue his nice easy swing. Look for Judge to power through with a 18-14 victory. The other round two match up is 1 vs. 5 as Stanton takes on Sano. Stanton is well conditioned and in his home park which gives him the advantage of knowing the park and having the crowd at his back. Sano will give it his best, but end up being no match for the defending champ who blasts out 17 to Sano’s 14 leading to the Stanton vs. Judge match up we all want.

The Finals are set and the two young studs of the East Coast are set to mash balls as far as they can. Both players will benefit from the time bonuses given for distance, but Judge will get an extra bit of time, which will give him what he needs to surpass Stanton 22-18 and take the crown from the defending champ in his own park after a masterful showing of power.
 

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