Daily Red Sox Links: Putting together an all Red Sox home run derby

It has been seven years since a member of the Boston Red Sox was in the home run derby. That drought won’t be changing this year, as nobody from the Sox is on this year’s roster either. Even though J.D. Martinez is tied for the league lead in home runs and Mookie Betts has 23 of his own, that’s probably a good thing. Missing out on the glorious exhibition of dingers could mean both players can maintain their mechanics and not potentially alter their swing for the remainder of the season as has been rumored to happen to other participants.

With that out of the way, its disappointing we won’t get to see Martinez send moonshots into the night sky on Monday or to see Betts slam laser beams out of the park. If the Red Sox could create their own home run derby with players from this year’s team, who would they choose? More accurately, who should they choose?

J.D. Martinez (28 home runs)

I mean, come on. Obviously. He is tied with Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez more the most home runs in baseball right now and ranks fourth in isolated power. In addition, 34.1 percent of the fly balls he has hit have gone yard. MLB might have kept him off the home run derby roster because he never would have stopped hitting dingers and we would never get back to the regular season.

Mookie Betts (23 home runs)

You know what’s interesting? Betts actually has a higher reading in isolated power than Martinez. He’s also at a career-high 19.8 percent in home runs per fly ball.

Xander Bogaerts (14 home runs)

I’ve spent plenty of time discussing how Bogaerts has developed sustainable power. It would be fun to see him flex that power in exhibition mode.

Andrew Benintendi (14 home runs)

Benny did not win the final vote for the All Star game. This would be a decent consolation prize. Plus, we need some lefty pop.

Hanley Ramirez (6 home runs)

S U M M E R O F H A N L E Y continues.

Christian Vazquez (3 home runs)

In this situation, Vazquez would magically heal from his injury. He hasn’t hit a ton of homers this year, but when he gets a hold of one, the results are phenomenal.

Rick Porcello (0 home runs)

Maybe you didn’t here but Porcello crushed a double off Max Scherzer. No big deal. We’ll just need to see if Scherzer can throw those batting practice fastballs for this event.

David Ortiz (0 home runs)

Don’t try to tell me you wouldn’t want to see Ortiz in a Red Sox uniform again, even if it was only for a few hours.

It took 13 pitches, but Mookie Betts finally won out against J.A. Happ and crushed a grand slam last night. (Chris Cotillo; MassLive)

The Red Sox have won 10-straight games. Its just unfair at this point. (Mike Dowling; Forbes)

Chris Sale has helped quite a bit in that winning streak. What’s the outlook for the second half for the ace of the staff? (Chad Jennings; The Athletic) ($$)

J.D. Martinez has also been a big help, as he continues on pace for one of the best Red Sox seasons ever. (Chad Finn; Boston Globe)

Alex Cora sure has come a long way since Opening Day. (Chris Cotillo; MassLive)

There is some bad news, however, as Rafael Devers is on the DL now. (Chris Cotillo; MassLive)

Is Brad Zielger a viable trade target? (Cam Ellis; BP Boston)

The Red Sox are giving prospects a chance to experience Fenway Park before they get called up. (Alex Speier; Boston Globe)

Ryan Brasier can throw gas now. OK. (The Athletic) ($$)