2023 MLB Home Run Derby: Julio Rodríguez, Pete Alonso, Mookie Betts lead Derby field
Baseball's annual showcase of pure hitting power has arrived
SEATTLE — If you're a fan of dingers, longballs, moon shots, four-baggers, blasts, bombs, big flies, no-doubters, taters, jacks or just regular ol' home runs, oh boy, do we have an event for you.
The 2023 MLB Home Run Derby is Monday at Seattle's T-Mobile Park (8 p.m. ET on ESPN). Last year's winner, Juan Soto, will not return to defend his crown, but 2022 runner-up Julio Rodríguez — who by most accounts stole the show in L.A. — is looking for a repeat performance on his home turf.
Not that he doesn't have worthy challengers.
Let’s break down this year's Derby field.
No. 1 Luis Robert Jr., Chicago White Sox
2023 home runs: 26
Previous Derby performances: None
Fun fact: Robert’s final home run of the first half marked No. 26, a tally that doubled his previous single-season best.
Robert required a nudge to take his place in the competition, per MLB.com, and he got it from Randy Arozarena and Adolis Garcia, two fellow Cubans also in the field. Although Robert was initially reluctant to put his slugger side over his hitter side, swinging for the fences actually fits the 25-year-old’s evolution amid a career year. He has adopted a more patient approach at the plate that leads to more strikeouts and also allows him to tap into his immense power more often. — Zach Crizer
No. 8 Adley Rutschman, Baltimore Orioles
2023 home runs: 12
Previous Derby performances: None
Fun fact: No catcher has ever won the MLB Home Run Derby.
A Pacific Northwest native who was born and raised in Oregon, Rutschman’s decision to participate in the Derby in Seattle was an easy one. Another easy call? Having his dad, Randy, pitch to him. Unlike most sluggers, Rutschman, a switch-hitter, also gets to choose which side of the plate he’ll hit from. He told MLB.com that he will “probably start out left-handed.” The numbers support that, as 20 of his 24 career blasts have come from that side, but it raises the interesting possibility of him switching sides in the middle of the contest. — ZC
No. 2 Pete Alonso, New York Mets
2023 home runs: 26
Previous Derby performances: Winner in 2019 and 2021, semifinalist in 2022
Fun fact: Since he debuted in 2019, no one has hit more home runs in Major League Baseball than Pete Alonso. No one. Not even Aaron Judge.
Pete Alonso recently told Yahoo Sports that his favorite Derby performance from a fan perspective was Josh Hamilton in 2008, when Hamilton’s 28 homers in the first round set a record.
“Even though he didn’t win,” Alonso said, “I still think that was one of the coolest Home Run Derby rounds ever.”
Back then, the format was different; each contestant got a certain number of “outs” instead of a time limit. Alonso’s Derby career — two wins, three appearances prior to 2023 — has come in the timed era, an evolution that has made the Derby more compelling and more exhausting.
“I definitely think it's more of an endurance thing,” Alonso said of the new format, which forces guys to swing fast. But it’s not hard to see the appeal: “I think it's fun because you have a chance to have higher home run totals. Obviously, it's really awesome for the people there in the stadium because they just see balls flying out the yard consistently and also for people on TV because it's just high-octane.”
This year, Alonso will be competing for his third Derby title, which would tie Ken Griffey Jr. for the most ever.
“I mean, it's something that obviously I'm known for,” Alonso said. “Not just Home Run Derby stuff, but for me, just homers being a super big part of my game, so I guess it's pretty on brand.” — Hannah Keyser
No. 7 Julio Rodríguez, Seattle Mariners
2023 home runs: 13
Previous Derby performances: Runner-up in 2022
Fun fact: Rodríguez told reporters at last year’s Derby that he would “try” to hit one out of the ballpark entirely. If anyone in this field is going to do so this year, it’ll be him. So far this season, he has the longest longball among the Derby contestants, having hit one 454 feet to left-center in May.
Last year, J-Rod emerged as the consensus main character of an All-Star break that came fewer than 100 games into his big-league career. He didn’t win the Derby — falling in the final to Juan Soto, who excelled despite swirling trade rumors — but his first-round total of 32 was a single-round record for the night and literally twice the number he’d hit in regular-season games to that point.
“What did I show the fans?” Rodríguez said at the time. “Who I am, I guess. A little bit of my style … I think they know a little bit now.”
About a month later, the then-rookie signed a mega-extension with the Mariners that will keep him in Seattle for most, if not all, of his career. And this year, the Derby comes to him. Even before he left L.A. last year, Rodríguez fielded questions about his presumptive performance in the 2023 event in Seattle, saying he would “try” to hit one clean out of T-Mobile Park. — HK
No. 3 Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers
2023 home runs: 26
Previous Derby performances: None
Fun fact: His stature might not scream slugger, but few hitters in baseball history can boast a more prolific track record of belting home runs in bunches. Betts’ six career three-homer games are already tied for the all-time record with Sammy Sosa and Johnny Mize. No other active player has more than three.
Success for Betts will probably look like the same shot — ripped just over the wall in left field — on repeat. It’s a feat we know he’s capable of, with some of the game’s most elite hand-eye coordination, but a potential limitation nonetheless. Relatively few of Betts’ home runs achieve no-doubt-no-matter-where-it-goes distance. Over the past three seasons, 36 of his 81 homers (44.4%) have been estimated at 400 feet or more by Statcast. Other competitors such as Pete Alonso, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Luis Robert soar over 400 feet on more than 60% of their homers. — ZC
No. 6 Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays
2023 home runs: 13
Previous Derby performances: Runner-up in 2019
Fun fact: Guerrero crushed 40 homers in the 2019 semifinals, which still stands as the single-round record.
Count it as a plus for Guerrero that the All-Star festivities are far, far away from Toronto this season; of his 13 homers in 2023, 10 have come on the road. After a mixed bag of a first half, though, Guerrero might be rounding into form. He didn’t notch his first longball at home until June 23, but then he whacked two more in the same home stand. — ZC
No. 4 Adolis García, Texas Rangers
2023 home runs: 23
Previous Derby performances: None
Fun fact: In 2021, García made his first All-Star team, finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting and led the Rangers in home runs with 31 — mere months after the team designated him for assignment. In fact, it was the second time in his career to that point that he’d been DFA’d; the first was when the St. Louis Cardinals gave up on him after three years of him crushing minor-league pitching but failing to translate that in the majors.
The first round between García and Arozarena will be a friendly bit of competition among compatriots. The two Cuban-born players became friends while in the Cardinals organization and have stayed close to this day. Arozarena, who named García godfather to his daughter, said that even back when they were both minor-leaguers, he saw this coming — sort of.
“We knew we were surrounded by a lot of good players and a lot of players that turned out to be superstars, and I know he’s competitive, I know I’m competitive,” Arozarena said through an interpreter. “I knew we would be here — not necessarily the Home Run Derby, but definitely as superstars.” — HK
No. 5 Randy Arozarena, Tampa Bay Rays
2023 home runs: 16
Previous Derby performances: None
Fun fact: Although this is his first appearance in the Midsummer Classic, Arozarena has already proven how much he relishes the spotlight and performs at his best on the biggest stage. In 2020 — with just 42 regular-season major-league games under his belt and a season before he’d win Rookie of the Year — he won ALCS MVP honors and set a record for home runs in a single postseason.
Here’s a little more from Arozarena about the friendship and rivalry between him and García: “We’re going to try to share the victory because we said if I lose to him that he’s going to win the Derby, and if I beat him, then I’m going to win the Derby,” Arozarena said. “So that’s how we’re going to share it. We’ll find out on Monday who won.” — HK
