The All-Star break is upon us, which implies that all eyes within the baseball world shall be firmly targeted on what’s occurring at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas for each Monday and Tuesday. Monday’s festivities embrace the annual MLB Home Run Derby, which has a area that might finest be described as “intriguing.” This season’s version additionally features a tweaked rule set, so in case you’re unaware of any modifications to the occasion then you definitely occur to be in the precise place since we’ll go over all of the modifications proper right here.
As far as the sector goes, we’ve bought a mixture of each standard suspects and fascinating newcomers. For starters, Pete Alonso is as soon as once more competing within the Home Run Derby and he’ll be seeking to tie the document for many Derby victories. Then you might have the necessary hometown consultant in Adolis García, who will certainly be seeking to electrify the gang very similar to he did on a near-regular foundation throughout final season’s Postseason. Jose Ramírez competed within the 2022 Derby however because it turned out, he was severely hampered by a thumb damage that pressured him to bat right-handed. He’ll be bating left-handed this time and will definitely be hoping to flee the primary spherical this time round.
Additionally, the present second-place holders within the season-long residence run race for each the American and the National League are competing on this as effectively — Marcell Ozuna and Gunnar Henderson will every be competing of their first Derby and seeking to make an influence on their first look. Meanwhile, Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. shall be seeking to exhibit what he is able to when it comes to energy. Finally, whereas Alec Bohm and Teoscar Hernández could not even be the most important residence run boppers on their very own staff, they will be seeking to show that neither of them are slouches in terms of mashing dingers.
MLB Home Run Derby guidelines for 2024
This is the place the entire modifications are coming into play. For starters, there isn’t any seeding anymore which implies that we can’t have a bracket to point out off. That will not come till the second spherical — as an alternative, the seeding for the semifinals shall be decided by how every of the highest 4 hitters do within the first spherical. In case of a tie, the longest homer hit will decide who will get the upper seed. Meanwhile, the earlier tiebreaker format (a 60-second “swing-off” with no timeouts) stays intact however will solely be used from the semifinals onward. No. 1 takes on No. 4 and No. 2 takes on No. 3 in a standard bracket format.
This season, there’s additionally a 40-pitch restrict along with a three-minute time restrict for every hitter within the first two rounds. The two-minute restrict for the finals continues to be intact however there’s now a 27-pitch restrict for the ultimate spherical as effectively. Additionally, hitters can nonetheless acquire “bonus time” by hitting lengthy homers throughout the regular interval however the “bonus interval” is now measured when it comes to what number of pitches it takes for a hitter to document three outs — that means, any swing that does not end in a homer. On prime of that, hitters can decide up a fourth out in the event that they hit a homer of not less than 425 ft throughout the bonus. Also, you’ll be able to not name timeouts throughout the bonus — hitters can nonetheless name one timeout throughout regulation.
Home Run Derby predictions 2024
I’m going to exit on a limb right here and get a tiny little spicy with this prediction. While it might be straightforward to say that certainly one of homer leaders like Marcell Ozuna or Gunnar Henderson may translate their in-season efficiency to the Derby, it is also simply as possible to see each of them underwhelm a bit of their respective debuts. Pete Alonso has certainly gained the Derby twice however this will even be his fifth time competing so whereas he simply has essentially the most expertise of anyone within the area, that is no assure for victory, both.
Adolis García is an intriguing candidate as effectively however the odds of the hometown man profitable are by no means actually within the hometown man’s favor — it is solely occurred 3 times within the historical past of the competitors because it grew to become an All-Star occasion again in 1985. Jose Ramírez does seem to be an honest decide although, on condition that he is bought expertise and shall be hitting lefty and likewise be wholesome for this go round. With all of this being mentioned, I’m going to make my decide from the three underdogs. Particularly, I’m going to go together with the man who occurs to have the longest homer hit amongst the competitors so far this season:
Yeah, I’ll take Bobby Wit Jr.
How to look at 2024 Home Run Derby
Date: Monday, July 15
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
Location: Globe Life Field, Arlington, TX
TV: ESPN
Stream: WatchESPN
