In conjunction with Major League Baseball, the Albuquerque Isotopes today announced ROB STRATTON, JARED GAY, GENE TRUJILLO and JARED MANG as the four local participants selected by MLB to compete in Home Run Derby X (HRDX) on Friday, August 23 at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park.
Stratton, 46, a former Albuquerque Isotopes outfielder (2003), played 11 seasons in the Minor Leagues, hit 197 career home runs and is a twotime winner of the Triple-A All-Star Home Run Derby (2003 and 2007), the latter as a retired player at Isotopes Park. A 20-plus year resident of Albuquerque, Stratton has taught Special Education for 15 years at Atrisco Heritage High School.
Gay, 27, is a 2018 graduate of Eastern New Mexico University. He played in the Pecos League (Salina, 2000, and Santa Fe, 2021-22) and American Association (Houston, 2021) and became the only player in the Pecos League to led the league in home runs in two-straight seasons. Gay currently is the Club Manager at Casa Rondeña Winery in Los Ranchos.
Mang, 27, born in Los Alamos, NM, attended the University of New Mexico where he played baseball for four seasons, tallying a .339 average and 25 homers, before being drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 18thround of the 2019 MLB Draft, where he played one pro season. Mang currently works for Albuquerque Baseball Academy.
Trujillo, 19, an Albuquerque native and 2023 St. Pius High School graduate, is a rising sophomore first baseman on the University of New Mexico Baseball team. During his freshman season, he hit .304 with four homers over 25 games. He was ranked as the No.1 first baseman and No. 3 overall player in his class, according to Perfect Game.
The four local participants will be joined MLB Legends MANNY RAMIREZ, IAN DESMOND, RYAN ZIMMERMAN and JONNY GOMES and women’s softball/baseball stars JOCELYN ALO, ALEX HUGO, ASHTON LANSDELL, and Albuquerque’s own ANDREA HOWARD.