MLB’s biggest fireworks show of the summer is taking place right now, with eight of the game’s premier sluggers facing off in the T-Mobile Home Run Derby, live on ESPN.
One thing we do know for sure is we’ll see a first-time champion hoist the trophy at the end of the night.
Here are the competitors, in the order they will bat for the first round:
1. James Wood, Nationals
2. Brent Rooker, Athletics
3. Junior Caminero, Rays
4. Oneil Cruz, Pirates
5. Byron Buxton, Twins
6. Jazz Chisholm Jr., Yankees
7. Cal Raleigh, Mariners
8. Matt Olson, Braves
Follow along below for round-by-round highlights and analysis.
Junior Caminero
HR total: 21
Rooker started on an absolute heater, homering on his first three swings and eight out of his first nine. After hitting his eighth home run 45 seconds into the round, however, Rooker slowed down, only homering six more times before he got going again in the bonus round. Once there, Rooker smashed three more home runs, pushing his total to 17. When Rooker was hot, he was crushing home runs to the pull side, hitting six homers at least 440 feet.
LONGEST HR: 471 feet
HARDEST HR: 112 mph
AVG. HR DISTANCE: 428 feet
AVG. HR EXIT VELO: 106.1 mph
It took the young Nationals slugger a little while to heat up, but Wood rounded into fine form in his first Derby performance. He homered on six of his final eight swings and added two more homers in his bonus round to reach 16 in all. Wood’s second homer traveled 486 feet, the longest HR in a Home Run Derby (not counting Coors Field in 2021) since Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s 488-foot shot in the 2019 Derby.
LONGEST HR: 486 feet
HARDEST HR: 112 mph
AVG. HR DISTANCE: 435 feet
AVG. HR EXIT VELO: 106 mph
