Home Run Derby predictions from USA TODAY Sports staffers
The mile-high altitude of Denver's Coors Field should help provide some memorable and monstrous blasts at Monday night's All-Star Home Run Derby.
Three of the top seven home run hitters over the first half of the 2021 season will be participating -- including the overall leader, Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani.
Ohtani (33 home runs) is the No. 1 overall seed in the eight-man event, which gets underway at 8 p.m. ET. He's also the co-favorite, along with 2019 champion Pete Alonso, among USA TODAY Sports' MLB writers and editors.
Here are the first-round matchups, followed by our staff predictions:
No. 1 Shohei Ohtani (Angels) vs. No. 8 Juan Soto (Nationals)
No. 2 Joey Gallo (Rangers) vs. No. 7 Trevor Story (Rockies)
No. 3 Matt Olson (Athletics) vs. No. 6 Trey Mancini (Orioles)
No. 4 Salvador Perez (Royals) vs. No. 5 Pete Alonso (Mets)
And the winner is ...
Bob Nightengale: Shohei Ohtani
Gabe Lacques: Pete Alonso
Scott Boeck: Shohei Ohtani
Jesse Yomtov: Pete Alonso
Steve Gardner: Joey Gallo
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Home Run Derby predictions: Shohei Ohtani, Pete Alonso co-favorites
