He’s posted a hard-hit rate (95+ mph) of just over 50%, ranking in the 94th percentile of MLB, and an average exit velocity of 91.9 mph, in the 91st percentile. • Rodríguez is looking to join some rare rookie territory, as the only first-year players who’ve won the Home Run Derby outright are the Yankees’ Aaron Judge in 2017 and the Mets’ Pete Alonso in 2019. At 21 years, 201 days old on Monday, Rodríguez will be the fourth-youngest Derby participant and could become the youngest winner. • Having missed considerable time early in 2022, Acuña has just eight home runs, tied with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in 2019 for the fourth-fewest first-half homers for any Derby participant.
This year's competition shook up the rule book with players posting the highest totals across Rounds 1 and 2 advancing to the finals, rather than resetting the tally each round like in previous years. Stanton peppered Petco Park with baseballs en route to a Derby-record 61 homers. He logged the 10 longest home runs of the night, as well as the 20 hardest-hit blasts, topping out at 120.4 mph, per Statcast™. • The 21-year-old is the only rookie with multiple home runs further than 440 feet this season.
MLB Home Run Derby: List of participants at Dodger Stadium
Before this season, only Ivan Rodriguez and Brady Anderson had come into the competition having hit fewer -- Rodriguez will also be joined this season by Pujols, who has six homers in '22. He also participated in 2019, the season he nearly joined the club with 41 homers and 37 stolen bases. Acuña won his first-round Derby matchup against Josh Bell, 25-18, but lost to the eventual champion -- and fellow 2022 competitor -- Alonso, 20-19, in the semifinals.
The change was believed to be in promotion of the inaugural World Baseball Classic, played in March 2006. In 2006, the selection of four players from each league resumed. In 2011, the format was revised so that team captains selected the individual sides. In 2000, a "match play"-style format was instituted for the second round. The player with the most home runs in the first round faced the player with the least among the four qualifying players, as did the players with the second- and third-most totals. Since the inaugural derby in 1985, the event has seen several rule changes, evolving from a short outs-based competition, to multiple rounds, and eventually a bracket-style timed event.
Format
Here's a semi-educated guess at who might when the event begins at 8 p.m. • Pujols has the most big league home runs of any Derby participant. Pujols could join fellow 600 home run club members Barry Bonds , Ken Griffey Jr. (1994, '98-99) and Sammy Sosa as a Home Run Derby champion.
Ramirez was the seventh of eight players to lock himself into the Derby. Rodriguez, 21, is doing things that haven’t been done at his age since Mariners legend Ken Griffey Jr. – who won the Derby three times with Seattle. With 15 home runs and 21 steals this year, Rodriguez is on his way to a potential season. Pujols is making his final All-Star appearance an eventful one.
July 10
Making the second of five Derby appearances, Sosa came away with his only win in 2000. This year's event established a four players per league format. Howard dropped six balls into the Allegheny River -- four on the fly, two on the bounce -- en route to a Derby victory.
He was the first player to win the Derby and the All-Star MVP, as well as the first Derby winner to also homer in the All-Star Game. Judge, who set a new rookie home run record in 2017 , easily bested Sano in the finals and crushed four home runs further than 500 feet. He became the fourth Yankees player to win the derby, giving the New York franchise more winners than any other club.
Seeding was determined based on the number of homers each player has on the season as of Thursday. The former Los Angeles Dodger and current Texas Rangers shortstop became the eighth player to enter this year’s Derby. He was also named an All-Star replacement on Thursday, taking the spot of injured Toronto Blue Jays outfielder George Springer. Having watched Hamilton’s performance growing up, Scott hoped that one day he would be able to participate in the MLB Home Run Derby.
The clock was not stopped in the final minute, and one minute of bonus time was granted only for hitting two home runs of at least 425 feet (129.5 m). The eight players were seeded based on their home run totals through July 7. Each player is pitted in a head-to-head match, with three minutes on the clock in the first two rounds to hit as many home runs as possible. The running clock will only be two minutes in the final round. The story of the night heading into the 2022 Derby was Pete Alonso's quest for his third straight title. By the end, it was all about the two young superstars in Soto and Rodríguez.
The televised event included baseball legends Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, and Willie Mays. The show ran for 26 episodes with the winner receiving $2,000. As the event traditionally takes place at sunset where the sun is of no factor to the batter, they can choose to wear their hat casually and backwards. Batters will also be granted one 45-second timeout at any time of their choosing during regulation time each round.
This year marked the first live Derby broadcast that did not feature ESPN broadcaster Chris Berman. Now, Alonso has a chance to accomplish something that no Major League slugger has. When Griffey attempted to defend his back-to-back titles in 2000, Sammy Sosa bested him in the finals to spoil that bid. (Griffey had won his first Derby in 1994, making him the only three-time winner in the event’s history.) In 2015, Céspedes declined to defend his back-to-back titles because he did not make the All-Star team.
He's been particularly dialed in his MLB picks recently, going on his last 88 MLB sides picks, returning almost $2,900 for $100 bettors. Strawberry and Joyner led the way with four jacks each, and the NL won, 8-7, thanks to Parker's runner-up three homers. Sierra and Davis split the prize in 1989 with three home runs each for their respective leagues, with a trio of sluggers tying for second. Fielder joined his father as the second member of his family to compete in the Derby, but he did something the elder Fielder never accomplished -- he won it. They're the first and only father-son duo to ever participate. Cano closely outhit Gonzalez, who was representing the rival Red Sox, with a victory in the final round at Chase Field.
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