Home Run Derby 2023: Top Storylines to Track for Every Participant
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One of the greatest spectacles in sports comes to T-Mobile Park on Monday.
The 2023 Home Run Derby features four of the top 10 home run hitters in Major League Baseball, two players with connections to the Seattle area and the player with the dingers in a single derby.
Pete Alonso has been the king of the event in recent years. He won two of the last three derbies and he has a chance to make history with another triumph.
Alonso and Mookie Betts are the only National League hitters in the eight-man field. They will be tasked with holding on to the NL’s winning streak of four derbies.
There are six American League sluggers entered the event. They are all trying to be the first AL winner since Aaron Judge in 2017.
Luis Robert
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Robert had the most home runs of the eight participants when the bracket was finalized.
The Chicago White Sox slugger enters Sunday tied with Mookie Betts and Pete Alonso for the most dingers in the field with 26.
Robert does not have history on his side as the No. 1 seed.
Kyle Schwarber, Shohei Ohtani, Matt Chapman, Jesus Aguilar and Giancarlo Stanton were all eliminated in the first round as the top seed in the last five derbies.
Only Ohtani hit more than 20 home runs in his first-round matchup as the No. 1 seed in the last five seasons.
A first-round win over Adley Rutschman would not guarantee victory for Robert, but it would at least end the horrible luck the top seeds has had.
Pete Alonso
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The Home Run Derby is Alonso’s event.
Alonso won the competition in 2019 and 2021 and he advanced to the semifinals in 2022.
The No. 2 seed is aiming to tie Ken Griffey Jr. for the most Home Run Derby championships in history.
Alonso enters Seattle tied with Prince Fielder and Yoenis Cespedes for two dinger-hitting titles.
The New York Mets slugger will have the crowd against him since he is matched up with Julio Rodriguez, who he lost to in the semifinals last year.
Mookie Betts
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Not only has Betts been red hot at the dish, but he owns an advantage in rest over the entire field.
The Los Angeles Dodgers had off on Sunday and Betts will have a short trip up from southern California after his team’s short series with the Los Angeles Angels.
Betts finished the first half with three home runs in two games against Ohtani and the Angels.
If Betts wins, he would be the second champion from the NL West to win in Seattle after Luis Gonzalez took the title in 2001 for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Adolis Garcia
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Adolis Garcia has the most familiarity with T-Mobile Park outside of Rodriguez hitting in his home park.
The Texas Rangers slugger owns three home runs, 10 RBI and a .709 OPS in 22 starts in Seattle.
Those are not inspiring numbers, but he at least has a feel for the dimensions and the right places to hit the ball.
The outfielder has been on a bit of a hot streak with eight home runs since June 20. That run moved him into a tie for sixth with Jorge Soler on the home run leaderboard.
If Garcia wins, he would be the first Texas player to win the Derby since Juan Gonzalez in 1993.
Randy Arozarena
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Randy Arozarena will face Garcia in an all-Cuban first-round matchup.
Arozarena needs to find a better power stroke than he has had recently to get past Garcia and win the Derby.
The Tampa Bay Rays outfielder hit four home runs in June and he only has a single dinger in July.
The good news for Arozarena is that two of those long shots came inside T-Mobile Park during the Rays’ recent three-game set with the Mariners.
He would be the first-ever Rays player to capture the Derby title if he wins.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
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Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has not had the home-run hitting season up to his standards, but he can never be counted out in the Derby.
Guerrero holds the record for most home runs in a single round with 40 from the 2019 second round.
In fact, Guerrero is one of three 2023 Derby participants who ranks in the top five of best single rounds in Derby history. Alonso and Rodriguez are the others.
The record-setting round did not result in a Derby victory, so Guerrero will be after the title that his father won in 2007.
Guerrero could use the Derby as a spark to the second half of the season. He has 13 home runs in 87 games, and only three of them came at home inside Rogers Centre.
Julio Rodriguez
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Rodriguez’s motivation is obvious.
He is trying to become the second winner in his home park in the last five derbies. Bryce Harper won as a Washington Nationals player in 2018 at Nationals Park.
Rodriguez put on a show in his first-ever Derby last season, as he produced 32 home runs in the first round and 31 in the second. Those are two of the five best rounds in Derby history.
Those two rounds helped Rodriguez earn the second-highest home run total in a single Derby with 81. Only Guerrero in 2019 hit more in the event’s history.
Rodriguez will be the sentimental favorite in Seattle, but he needs to get past Alonso just to get into the second round, and that may tire him out for future rounds.
Adley Rutschman
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Rutschman may be the No. 8 seed, but he has a few things on his side.
The Baltimore Orioles catcher has the recent history of victorious No. 8 seeds going in his favor.
He also has the emotional motivation to shine in front of a potentially large amount of family and friends.
Rutschman is from Oregon and went to college at Oregon State, where he won the 2019 Golden Spikes Award.
He may only have 11 home runs this season, but there is plenty of motivation there for him to beat Robert and make a surge into the final.
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