If asked, Giancarlo Stanton will participate in Derby

Here's a tip for whoever is the captain of the National League team for the All-Star Game, ask Giancarlo Stanton to be on your side. An invitation is all it'll take for Stanton to participate in the All-Star Game's Home Run Derby at Great American Ball Park on July 13.

"If I'm asked, I'll do it," the Marlins slugger said Friday before the team's first game of a three-game series in Cincinnati.

The Reds' Todd Frazier topped Stanton in the semifinals of last season's Derby in Minneapolis.

Stanton currently leads the big leagues in home runs with 25 after leading the National League with 37 last season.

Stanton said he expects a lot of home runs in the derby at Great American Ball Park, regardless of who participates. He's also hoping he's learned a little about hitting homers during real games here.

"I find myself trying to make too much of the little park in previous years," Stanton said. "Last year I finally calmed down a little bit when I'm here. You get super-excited and by the time your three games are up, you have no homers and nothing hit to the wall. Then your next series you hit five balls that would have been out here — that's what I feel like I used to do. I've kind of calmed it down a little bit."

Last year he hit two homers in his three games here, after going homerless in 2012 and 2013. He hit two in one game against the Reds as a rookie in 2010 and one more in 2011 before his mini-drought at Great American Ball Park.