Julio Rodriguez Reveals His Choice for HR Derby Pitcher

This may be Seattle Mariners' rookie Julio Rodriguez' debut at the MLB Home Run Derby, but he's going into the event with a solid plan in place. Rodriguez already declared he's more worried about clearing the fence than lighting up the distance leaderboards, and he's also made his choice for his pitcher.

Rodriguez selected his batting practice pitcher, Franmy Peña, to throw to him in this year's event.

Peña is a family friend, who runs a baseball academy in the Dominican Republic. His helped instill confidence in the young rookie as Rodriguez claims he wouldn't even be participating in this event had it not been for his work with Peña.

Rodriguez in the American League's runaway favorite to take home Rookie of the Year. The 21-year-old made the All-Star Game roster after slashing .275/.337/.477 with 16 home runs, 52 RBIs and 21 stolen bases. He's a spark plug all over the diamond and will hope to show off his powerful bat under the brightest of lights.

Julio Rodriguez Home Run Derby

FanDuel Sportsbook has released odds for the 2022 HR Derby and Pete Alonso remains the favorite at +195. Rodriguez checks in with the fourth-best odds set at +750.

Adam Taylor McKillop is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Adam Taylor also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username atmckillop. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.