The HR Derby field is set. Here's how the bracket shakes out
The field is set for the 2023 T-Mobile Home Run Derby.
The eight sluggers set to square off at T-Mobile Park in Seattle on Monday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN have been announced. The first-round matchups:
(1) Luis Robert Jr. vs. (8) Adley Rutschman
(2) Pete Alonso vs. (7) Julio Rodríguez
(3) Mookie Betts vs. (6) Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
(4) Adolis García vs. (5) Randy Arozarena
Here's a rundown of this year's Derby contestants, in order of matchup.
Note: The Home Run Derby seeds were determined by each player's season home run total through July 4. For contestants with the same number of home runs, the tiebreaker was the most homers hit since June 15, which gives Robert the No. 1 seed over Alonso.
No. 1 seed: Luis Robert Jr., White Sox
Current HR total: 26
Total when seeds were set: 25
Longest HR of 2023: 450 feet, July 4 vs. Blue Jays
Hardest HR of 2023: 113.6 mph, May 14 vs. Astros
- The White Sox first-time All-Star would be leading the American League in home runs if not for Shohei Ohtani. In the first half of 2023, Robert has already doubled his previous career high in home runs for a single season (13 in 2021).
- Robert is the first White Sox slugger to participate in the Home Run Derby since Todd Frazier in 2016, who came up just short in the Derby finals vs. Giancarlo Stanton. Chicago has had only one Derby winner: the Big Hurt himself, Frank Thomas, in 1995.
- Robert has some of the biggest home run power in this year's field. He's one of two contestants, along with Alonso, who's hit a 480-plus-foot home run under Statcast tracking. Robert's 487-foot home run against the A's in the 2020 AL Wild Card Series is the longest hit by a White Sox player in the Statcast era (since 2015), and it's the third-longest postseason homer in MLB in that time after a 491-footer by Willson Contreras in 2017 and a 488-footer by Kyle Schwarber in 2022.
No. 8 seed: Adley Rutschman, Orioles
Current HR total: 12
Total when seeds were set: 11
Longest HR of 2023: 461 feet, July 9 vs. Twins
Hardest HR of 2023: 111.1 mph, May 9 vs. Rays
- After his stellar rookie season, Rutschman is now a first-time All-Star and first-time Home Run Derby participant as a sophomore. He's the lowest seed in the 2023 Derby, but if the 25-year-old pulls off some upsets he'd be the third Orioles player to win a Home Run Derby after Cal Ripken Jr. in 1991 and Miguel Tejada in 2004.
- Rutschman is a switch-hitter -- and no switch-hitter has ever won the Home Run Derby outright. Ruben Sierra did share the Derby crown with Eric Davis back in 1989; aside from that, Lance Berkman is the only other one to make the finals, in 2004. This will be the second straight Derby with a switch-hitter in the field -- José Ramírez took part in 2022 but was eliminated in the first round by Juan Soto.
- Rutschman is also a catcher -- and no catcher has ever won a Home Run Derby. Catchers don't even participate very often; some recent examples include Salvador Perez in 2021, Gary Sánchez in 2017, Joe Mauer in 2009 and Ivan Rodriguez in 2005.
- Rutschman got one big Home Run Derby practice swing in just before the contest: He crushed the longest home run of his career -- and the longest this season by any hitter in the 2023 Derby -- on the final day of the first half, a 461-foot homer to the upper deck in Minnesota.
No. 2 seed: Pete Alonso, Mets
Current home run total: 26
Total when seeds were set: 25
Longest HR of 2023: 448 feet, June 6 at Braves
Hardest HR of 2023: 113.7 mph, June 21 at Astros
- Alonso is a Home Run Derby superstar. He's a two-time champion, winning back-to-back Derbies in 2019 and '21 (there was no Home Run Derby in 2020). It took a monster 31-homer round from Rodríguez to eliminate Alonso from last year's Home Run Derby -- and now they're set up for a must-watch first-round rematch. Ken Griffey Jr. is the only player ever to win three Home Run Derbies (1994, '98 and '99). Alonso, fittingly, could become the second in Seattle.
- Polar Bear Pete is the all-time leading Home Run Derby slugger, and he's pulling away from the pack. Alonso has hit 174 total home runs in his three Derbies, ranking No. 1 in the history of the contest. Albert Pujols is second with 106 homers across five Home Run Derbies.
- Alonso has both the longest and the hardest home run tracked by Statcast of any 2023 Home Run Derby contestant. His 489-foot home run on July 17, 2019, edges out Robert's 487-footer for distance, and his 118.3 mph home run on April 11, 2019, beats a 117.9 mph homer by Vlad Jr. for exit velocity.
No. 7 seed: Julio Rodríguez, Mariners
Current HR total: 13
Total when seeds were set: 13
Longest HR of 2023: 454 feet, May 7 vs. Astros
Hardest HR of 2023: 112.0 mph, May 29 vs. Yankees
- After the show J-Rod put on as a rookie in the 2022 Home Run Derby, everyone will be watching to see what he can do for an encore. Rodríguez became the only player with multiple 30-homer rounds in a Derby, and only four other players in Derby history (Vlad Jr., Joc Pederson, Alonso and Soto) even have one. Rodríguez's 81 total home runs in the 2022 Derby, when he fell in the finals to Soto, are the second-most ever in a single Home Run Derby behind Guerrero's 91 in 2019.
- Rodríguez will also be the hometown favorite, as the Seattle star gets to slug homers at his own ballpark. Only three players have won a Home Run Derby in their home park: Bryce Harper at Nationals Park in 2019, Todd Frazier at Great American Ball Park in 2015 and Ryne Sandberg at Wrigley Field in 1990. Rodríguez would be Seattle's second player to win a Home Run Derby, after the great three-time champ Griffey.
- At the time the Home Run Derby bracket was unveiled, J-Rod had the longest home run this season of any of the eight participants: a 454-foot shot in May at the same stadium he'll be hitting in on Monday. (He was surpassed by Rutschman in the last game before the All-Star break.) Rodriguez's homer is the second-longest hit at T-Mobile Park this season, a foot behind one by teammate Jarred Kelenic.
No. 3 seed: Mookie Betts, Dodgers
Current HR total: 26
Total when seeds were set: 23
Longest HR of 2023: 426 feet, May 12 vs. Padres
Hardest HR of 2023: 110.1 mph, June 2 vs. Yankees
- Betts has been an All-Star the last seven consecutive seasons, but this will be his Home Run Derby debut. It's coming at the right time for the Dodgers star, who's on pace for his first career 40-homer season. Betts went on a HR tear heading into the break, homering three times in his final two games.
- Betts, at 5-foot-9, is far from your prototypical Home Run Derby slugger. The most recent Derby champion who was under 6 feet tall was Yoenis Céspedes, at 5-foot-11. Every player who's won since then (Todd Frazier, Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper, Alonso and Juan Soto) has been at least 6-foot-2.
- The Dodgers, interestingly, have never had a Home Run Derby champion. Could Betts be their first? The most successful run by an L.A. player was Joc Pederson in 2015, an impressive show that included a 39-homer second round, but he fell in the finals by a single home run to Frazier.
No. 6 seed: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays
Current HR total: 13
Total when seeds were set: 13
Longest HR of 2023: 450 feet, May 3 at Red Sox
Hardest HR of 2023: 112.7 mph, April 23 at Yankees
- Vlad Jr. is entering his second Derby, and even though he came up just short in his first as a rookie in 2019, when he lost to Alonso by one home run in the finals, it was one of the most electric Home Run Derby displays of all time. A then-20-year-old Guerrero set records for most home runs in a single round, with 40 to beat Pederson in a triple swing-off in Round 2, and most home runs in a single Derby, with 91 in total.
- If Vlad Jr. wins it this year, he and his Hall of Fame dad, Vlad Sr., would become the first father-son duo to be Home Run Derby champions. Vlad Sr. won the 2007 Derby as a member of the Angels, defeating Alex Rios in the finals.
- Guerrero is ripping the ball this year. He's the American League leader in hard-hit balls, with 161 balls hit 95 mph or harder, and is well ahead of any other 2023 Derby contestant (his opponent, Betts, is next with 135).
No. 4 seed: Adolis García, Rangers
Current HR total: 23
Total when seeds were set: 21
Longest HR of 2023: 432 feet, April 22 vs. A's
Hardest HR of 2023: 112.1 mph, June 20 at White Sox
- The final 2023 Home Run Derby participant to be revealed, García is entering the contest for the first time. He'll be the Rangers' third representative in the last three Derbies after Corey Seager in 2022 and Joey Gallo in 2021.
- However, you'll have to go back exactly 30 years to find Texas' last Home Run Derby champion. That was Juan Gonzalez, who took home the crown in 1993. Sierra, with his shared crown in 1989, is the team's other Derby winner.
- Many Latin American stars have shined at the Home Run Derby, including last year's winner, Soto, who hails from the Dominican Republic. But there's been only one Cuban champion: Céspedes, who won back-to-back Derbies in 2013 and '14. García could be the second.
No. 5 seed: Randy Arozarena, Rays
Current HR total: 16
Total when seeds were set: 16
Longest HR of 2023: 436 feet, April 2 vs. Tigers
Hardest HR of 2023: 111.8 mph, April 29 at White Sox
- Arozarena is only the third Rays player to take part in the Home Run Derby, and the first since Carlos Peña in 2009. The first was Evan Longoria in 2008. But both Peña and Longoria were eliminated in the first round, so Arozarena could be Tampa Bay's first champion.
- Arozarena is well on his way to a career year from a home run-hitting standpoint. The 28-year-old is on pace for right around 30 homers, and his previous career high is 20 in each of the last two seasons.
- Arozarena vs. García will be a Cuba vs. Cuba matchup. So while either one of them could become the second Cuban player to win a Home Run Derby, only one can make it past the first round to get a shot at the finals.