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Sports Jul 19, 2022
Washington Nationals right fielder Juan Soto (22) getting ready to hit on the on-deck circle during a game against the Miami Marlins at Nationals Park in Washington D.C., April 26, 2022. (Photo by All-Pro Reels)
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Washington Nationals’ right fielder Juan Soto won the Home Run Derby Monday evening at Dodger Stadium, defeating Seattle Mariners rookie center fielder Julio Rodríguez, 19-18, in the final round.
Soto defeated St. Louis Cardinals designated hitter Albert Pujols, 16- 15, in the second round and Cleveland Guardians third baseman José Ramírez, 18- 17, in the first.
Rodríguez was a 31-23 second-round winner over Pete Alonso, the New York Mets’ first baseman who won the last two Home Run Derbies. Rodríguez defeated Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager, 32-24, in the first round.
Alonso defeated Atlanta Braves’ right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr., 20-19, in the first round.
Philadelphia Phillies’ left fielder Kyle Schwarber was seeded first, but lost to Pujols, 20-19, in the first round. The seedings were determined by the participants’ home run totals through Wednesday when the field was set.
Soto was seeded fourth and Rodriguez sixth.
Soto received $1 million for the victory. At 23 years, 266 days old, Soto was just one day short of tying Juan González as the youngest winner in Derby history.
The 43 home runs Alonso hit Monday increased his record career total to 174 in three derbies. Pujols’ 35 home runs moved him into second with 108 in five derbies. He was ninth entering Monday’s competition.
The 42-year-old Pujols was the oldest competitor in the history of the Home Run Derby, which has been conducted annually since 1985, except for 1988, when it was canceled due to rain, and 2020 when all All-Star Game-related activities were canceled due to the delayed start of the season caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The derby included only two of MLB’s top eight home run hitters — Schwarber who is second with 29 and Alonso who is tied for fifth with 24.
New York Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge, who leads the majors with 33 homers, has not participated in the Home Run Derby since his rookie season in 2017 when he won.
A judge told the New York Post last month there was “no need” for him to compete this year because “I already did it once.”
The Home Run Derby is a single-elimination tournament in which the loser of each bracket is immediately eliminated. In each bracket, the higher seed hits second.
Each batter received three minutes in the first and second rounds and two minutes in the final round. Timers start with the release of the first pitch.
Thirty seconds of bonus time was automatically awarded to each player. An additional 30 seconds of bonus time was awarded for any player hitting a home of at least 475 feet during the initial time period of each round.
Ties in any round are broken by a 60-second swing-off with no stoppage of time or additional time added. If a tie remains after the swing-off, batters will engage in successive three-swing swing-offs until there is a winner.
