MLB All-Star Game: League to use Home Run Derby tiebreaker
Monday might not see the only Home Run Derby of MLB All-Star week.
MLB has officially decided to hold a Home Run Derby tiebreaker should Tuesday's All-Star Game be tied after nine innings, Yahoo Sports confirmed Monday.
The mini-derby will take the form of each manager selecting three batters and each batter taking three swings. Team coaches will throw pitches, and whichever team has the most homers after three rounds (nine swings) wins. If the two teams are still tied after three rounds, teams will send one batter to take three swings until the tie is broken.
MLB and the MLBPA had mentioned the possibility of a Home Run Derby tiebreaker in the new CBA signed last offseason.
Who could hit in an MLB All-Star Game Home Run Derby tiebreaker?
The change should be a fun one, or at least a more fun ending than extra innings between two teams with pitchers whose teams want to limit their usage or, in the case of 2002, Bud Selig shrugging.
Just picking three batters to best represent each team is a fun exercise. The American League obviously has the New York Yankees' pair of exit velocity monsters in Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge, not to mention the breakout slugger of the 2019 Home Run Derby, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Other fun choices include Shohei Ohtani, Byron Buxton and rookie sensation Julio Rodriguez.
Meanwhile, the National League has the two-time defending Derby champion in New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, plus sluggers like Kyle Schwarber, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Paul Goldschmidt.
For now, the tentative plan is Rodriguez, Ty France of the Seattle Mariners and Kyle Tucker of the Houston Astros for the AL and Alonso, Acuña and Schwarber for the NL.
If the All-Star Game is tied after 9 innings, tiebreaker will be a mini home run derby, featuring three players per team. Tentative plan for who would take part:
AL:
Ty France
Julio Rodriguez
Kyle Tucker
NL:
Pete Alonso
Ronald Acuña Jr.
Kyle Schwarberhttps://t.co/NHiNs5fZAz— Hannah Keyser (@HannahRKeyser) July 18, 2022