Athletics third baseman Matt Chapman will replace Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich in the Home Run Derby, Major League Baseball announced on Sunday.
Yelich, 27, has been bothered by back spasms at times this season. Evidently they have been bad enough recently to keep him out of the Home Run Derby. Yelich was the No. 1 seed, set to square off against Blue Jays third baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Yelich, the reigning NL MVP, goes into the All-Star break batting .329/.433/.707 with a MLB-best total of 31 home runs along with 67 RBI.
Chapman, 26, entered Sunday’s action batting .265/.353/.534 with 21 home runs and 52 RBI across 388 trips to the plate. Now in his third season, this will be Chapman’s first appearance in the Home Run Derby.
The other first-round match-ups will see Pete Alonso (2) against Carlos Santana (7), Josh Bell (3) against Ronald Acuña Jr. (6), and Alex Bregman (4) against Joc Pederson (5).
