This year’s edition of the Home Run Derby is sure to bring the fireworks.
With a loaded field of sluggers ready to tear through the marine layer at T-Mobile Park in Seattle and no shortage of intriguing storylines, the 2023 edition of MLB’s annual long-ball competition has the potential to be one of the best in recent memory.
Pete Alonso is, once again, trying his hand at becoming the second player ever to take home three Derby crowns, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. makes his triumphant return to the event after his record-breaking performance in 2021 and Julio Rodriguez looks to become to first hometown winner since Bryce Harper in 2018.
You can get your fill of dingers live on Sportsnet and SN NOW, starting at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT Monday.
But before things get underway in Seattle, here’s everything you need to know about the 2023 Home Run Derby.
How it Works
The single-elimination, timed format established in 2015 is back in 2023.
Eight competitors have been placed into a bracket, with seeding determined by their home run totals through July 4. Any tiebreakers were determined by the number of homers hit between June 15 and July 4.
The bracket pits the hitters in head-to-head matchups over three rounds, with the lower-seeded player hitting first.
Batters will have three minutes to hit during the first and second rounds, and just two minutes in the final. After each round, participants will receive 30 seconds of bonus time and can earn an additional 30 seconds if they hit two homers 440 feet or farther.
Each player has one 45-second timeout to use in each of the rounds.
If the hitters are tied after their round, each gets a one-minute at-bat to top their opponent. If things get really crazy, as they did for Guerrero and Joc Pederson in 2019, and there’s a tie after that? There will be a swing-off, with each hitter getting three swings.
The Hitters
1. Luis Robert Jr., Chicago White Sox — 26 home runs
2. Pete Alonso, New York Mets — 26 home runs
3. Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers — 26 home runs
4. Adolis Garcia, Texas Rangers — 23 home runs
5. Randy Arozarena, Tampa Bay Rays — 16 home runs
6. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays — 13 home runs
7. Juilo Rodriguez, Seattle Mariners — 13 home runs
8. Adley Rutschman, Baltimore Orioles — 12 home runs
First-Round Matchups
(1) Robert vs. (8) Rutschman: Robert is making his first Home Run Derby appearance. The White Sox centre fielder is second in the American League in home runs — trailing Shohei Ohtani — and is putting together the type of season that baseball fans have long expected from the five-tool star. The 25-year-old will look to become the first White Sox hitter to bring a Derby title back to the south side since Frank Thomas smashed 15 home runs in the 1995 event.
One of the brightest young stars in baseball and a local kid — growing up in not-too-far-away Portland — Rutschman could make some serious history if he runs the table. No switch-hitter has ever won the Home Run Derby outright — Ruben Sierra was a co-winner in 1989 — and no catcher has made it further than Ivan Rodriguez’s runner-up finish in 2005. Look for the Orioles’ backstop to swing it from the left side on Monday night: 21 of his 25 career home runs have come while hitting left-handed, including the longest homer of any player in the field this season — a 461-foot rocket against the Minnesota Twins on Sunday.
(2) Alonso vs. (7) Rodriguez: The only former Home Run Derby champ in the field, Alonso gets a chance to exorcise some demons from last year’s semifinal with a rematch against Rodriguez. The Mets’ first baseman already holds the record for most dingers launched in Home Run Derby history, with 174 in three events. While Rodriguez kept him from a historic “Three-Pete” in 2022, Alonso has the chance to draw even with Ken Griffey Jr. for most Derby titles in the city where “The Kid” became an MLB legend.
Despite a slow start to 2023, Rodriguez’s Derby history and hometown advantage make him a threat to improve on his second-place finish a year ago. The reigning AL Rookie of the Year hit the second-most home runs in a single event, with 81 in 2022 — including 31 to eliminate Alonso.
(3) Betts vs. (6) Guerrero: Betts enters his first Home Run Derby as one of the hottest hitters in baseball. With 13 home runs since June 1 and three in his final two games before the break, the star outfielder seems to have found his power stroke at the perfect time. No Dodger has ever won the event, despite multiple semifinal appearances since 2015. Betts will attend his seventh All-Star Game this week and is on pace for a career-best 47 homers.
Guerrero will make his long-awaited return to the Home Run Derby. After bursting onto the scene with a record 91 moonshots in 2019, the Blue Jays’ first baseman has skipped out on the last two events. This time, the 24-year-old will hope to finish the job after losing in the final to Alonso. If the 2019 finalists both emerge from their first-round matchups, they will face off in what would be a must-see semifinal. Although just seventh in the field with 13 home runs in 2023, the three-time All-Star has the highest average (94.5 mph) and max (116.7 mph) exit velocities of the bunch.
Guerrero has the chance to make more history this year, too. With a win, he would become the first Blue Jay to win a Derby, and he and his father would become the first father-son duo to both win the contest — Vladimir Guerrero Sr. won in 2007.
(4) Garcia vs. (5) Arozarena: Making his second All-Star and first Home Run Derby appearance, Garcia has smashed the ball all season long in the heart of the Rangers lineup. With 23 home runs, the fourth seed will be in for an all-Cuban matchup against Arozarena. The last time a Ranger was crowned champion came in 1993. Nicknamed “El Bombi,” Garcia looks ready to end that streak, launching three bombs since July 3.
There is perhaps no player in baseball who rises to the moment quite like Arozarena. He’s well on his way to a career-best season, resulting in his first All-Star selection. The 2021 AL Rookie of the Year will be just the third Ray to participate in the festivities and the first since 2009. We’ve seen him reach another level in the post-season and, most recently, at this year’s World Baseball Classic — would it be a surprise to see him steal the show in Seattle?
