PHILADELPHIA — If participating in the Home Run Derby is on Teoscar Hernandez’s bucket list, he’s about to check it off.
Hernandez has accepted an invitation to participate in Monday’s Derby (5 p.m. PT, ESPN) at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Hernandez, who revealed his Derby participation while mic’d up on the field during the third inning of Wednesday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies, is participating in the All-Star Game for the second time in his career, but he will be doing the Derby for the first time.
Hernandez expressed interest in competing in the Home Run Derby on Sunday when his All-Star selection was announced.
“Yeah, why not?” he said. “Obviously, my career, I wanted to be a part of it, see how it feels and why not try to go for it?”
Hernandez is one of eight participants in the Derby, joining two-time champion Pete Alonso of the New York Mets, Texas’ Adolis Garcia, Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez, Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson, Philadelphia’s Alec Bohm, Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. and Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani was a logical choice to participate in this year’s Derby, something he has done just once before (2021). He leads the National League with 28 home runs, but the Dodgers expressed displeasure with the idea of Ohtani putting his rehabbing right elbow under so much pressure.
There is no reason to object with Hernandez, who ranks fifth in the NL with 19 home runs.
“If he wants to go out there and hit a bunch of homers and make the fans go crazy, have at it,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Sunday.
Hernandez said Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel will pitch to him during the Derby.
Dodgers players do not have a very good track record in the annual home run-hitting contest.
Mike Piazza was the first Dodger to compete in the Home Run Derby. He did it in 1993 and 1994 – and didn’t hit a single home run either time.
Raul Mondesi competed in 1996, hit two home runs and finished last. With a new format in 2005, Hee-Seop Choi competed for the international team and performed a little better. He hit five home runs but didn’t advance out of the opening round.
Matt Kemp competed twice (2011 and 2012) and hit a total of three home runs. Yasiel Puig was invited in 2014 and came up empty.
Finally in 2015, Joc Pederson defeated Manny Machado and Albert Pujols to reach the finals before losing to the Cincinnati Reds’ Todd Frazier in Cincinnati. Corey Seager (2016), Cody Bellinger (2017) and Max Muncy (2018) competed in subsequent years. Pederson returned in 2019, losing to eventual runner-up Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of Toronto in a memorable semifinal duel that featured 79 home runs.
Like Hernandez, Mookie Betts wanted to try the Derby once just to see what it was like. He hit 11 home runs last year in Seattle but didn’t advance out of the first round.
This year’s first round will consist of all eight hitters swinging for three minutes (or 40 pitches, whichever comes first) before a bonus round that will go until three outs, with every pitch being either a home run or an out. A 425-foot homer in the bonus period unlocks a fourth out. The four sluggers with the most homers will advance to the next round.
In the semifinals, contestants will be seeded based on the number of homers hit in the first round. The No. 1 seed will face the No. 4 seed, and No. 2 will take on No. 3. The same rules from Round 1 apply to Round 2, with the winners advancing to the final.
The final will be a two-minute round with a maximum of 27 pitches thrown. The same bonus rules will apply. Hitters will also get one timeout in each round.
More to come on this story.
