The field is full of first-time participants for the event in Arlington, Texas.
Major League Baseball is nearing the mid-point of their season and the festivities surrounding its annual All-Star Game begin on Monday night. This year’s game will be played in Arlington, Texas—the home of the defending World Series champion Rangers. This wasn’t necessarily planned, but makes for great stories and should provide a setting for a terrific Mid-Summer Classic.
The first big event will come on Monday night when eight bombers will take the stage for the Home Run Derby. This year’s field is mostly players who have not competed in a Derby before, which should make for a fun tournament. With two young shortstops and a returning champion, this could be a great Derby.
This season hasn’t been as good as last year for the hosting Rangers, but they will have a representative in the Home Run Derby this year. It’s been a while since someone won the Derby on their home field, so that could get the crowd going behind their hometown star.
This year’s T-Mobile Home Run Derby will take place at Globe Life Field on July 15 at 8 p.m. ET and will air on ESPN. Here are the participants:
Pete Alonso, Mets
Home Runs: 18Alonso is making his fifth appearance in the Home Run Derby this year, and has treated the event like a player from back in the day—it’s a priority for him to perform well. He won the Derby in 2019 and 2021 (with the event not taking place in 2020 because of the pandemic). If he can win a third Derby crown, he would tie Ken Griffey, Jr. for the most titles since the event was started in 1985.
Gunnar Henderson, Orioles
Home Runs: 27 (3rd in MLB)Henderson, 23, has been a revelation in Baltimore this season. He’s been among the American League leaders in home runs all season, keeping up with the likes of Aaron Judge while playing shortstop on a team that has legitimate aspirations to make a deep playoff run. He has big time pop and could surprise people in his first Home Run Derby appearance.
Bobby Witt, Jr., Royals
Home Runs: 15Witt, like Henderson, is a young shortstop who is taking the baseball world by storm this season. He’s a five tool guy who can run and hit for power and has been the key bat in the Kansas City lineup all season. This will also be his first Home Run Derby appearance, and he might have a few fans in attendance; he grew up just north of Arlington.
Alec Bohm, Phillies
Home Runs: 11When you think about the Home Run Derby and players on the Phillies roster, Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber come to mind first. But it will be Bohm who will represent the National League East leaders in the event this summer. He’s the major league leader in doubles, so if he can find a little more launch angle in the Derby he might find the seats consistently.
Marcell Ozuna, Braves
Home Runs: 24 (fourth in MLB)Ozuna is another player making his Home Run Derby debut. He isn’t as young as Henderson, Witt or Bohm but comes in with a big home run total and a lot of pop. The Braves have a few bats in their lineup who could have been in the competition this year (or any year for that matter) but we’ll get to see if Ozuna can put on a show this year.
Adolis García, Rangers
Home Runs: 17García will be the hometown favorite at Globe Life Field. If he can win the event, he’ll become just the fourth player to win the Derby at home. The last Ranger to win the Derby was slugger Juan González in 1993; the only other Ranger to “win” the Derby was Rubén Sierra, who tied with Cincinnati’s Eric Davis in 1989. García was a postseason hero for the Rangers, launching eight round-trippers in the playoffs. If he can grab that magic again in his home ballpark, look out!
José Ramírez, Guardians
Home Runs: 23 (5th in MLB)Ramírez is making his second Home Run Derby appearance. The heartbeat of the first place Guardians’ lineup, he has quietly been one of the best offensive (and defensive) third basemen in baseball for years. His experience in the competition could pat dividends with most of the rest of the field making their debut.
Teoscar Hernández, Dodgers
Home Runs: 19In his first season with the Dodgers, Hernández will make his first appearance in the Home Run Derby. When you think abut the Dodgers’ lineup, you might think we would see Shohei Ohtani or Freddie Freeman or Mookie Betts or a few of his other teammates, but Hernández has bona fide light tower power and could be a dark horse to win the whole thing.
