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MLB Home Run Derby Sports News

MLB Home Run Derby Overview & Betting Odds

By Blake Roberts Founder & Editor in Chief Updated: 07 July 2023

Blake Roberts Founder & Editor in Chief

Blake Roberts is the founder of Betting.US and is currently heading the creative team as Editor in Chief. Born and raised in Morgantown, West Virginia, Blake is a great sports fan, with football and basketball being his favorite. He’s our trusted voice for all betting-related matters.

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Building up to the MLB All-Star Game this year, the T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Washington, will set the stage for the entertaining 2023 MLB Home Run Derby. The 36th edition of the build-up event is scheduled to commence on Monday, July 10, at 8 PM ET, which has intrigued the best MLB betting sites.

Last year, Washington Nationals’ hitter Juan Soto hit a 482 feet (146.91m) home run in Round 1 to win the 2022 MLB Home Run Derby at the Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The then 23-year-old became the second-youngest player to win the event.

This year, a lot of names are in contention to win the derby, with Pete Alonso leading the favorites chart. The New York Mets batter has won this event twice in the past and is aiming for a third title that will see the 28-year-old level Ken Griffey Jr’s record of three MLB Home Run Derby titles. But it will be anything but a cakewalk for Alonso as seven other sluggers will stand in his way. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Julio Rodriguez are also strong contenders this year and will go head-to-head with Mookie Betts and Alonso, respectively, in the first round.

The other two match-ups include Luis Robert Jr. against Adley Rutschman and Adolis Garcia going toe-to-toe with Randy Arozarena. The seeds for this derby were assigned according to the home run tally of the players through July 4 this year. The tiebreaker separated the players who have the same number of home runs. The tiebreaker included the number of home runs hit by players since June 15. This is the sole reason why Robert Jr. is the top seed in this year’s MLB Home Run Derby.

The derby will be played in a knock-out format in a single-elimination bracket system. There will be a total of three rounds. In all four first-round match-ups, the player with the higher seed will bat second. A time of three minutes will be allocated to each player in the first and second rounds, during which they have to try and hit the most home runs. Each player can opt for one time-out, which can last for a maximum of 45 seconds at any point of the game. In the final championship round, if the scores are level, a 60-second swing off decides the winner.

The MLB Home Run Derby made its debut in 1985 and retained the original format till 1990. The original format gave each participant two turns to bat with five outs per turn. In 1991, the event expanded to a three-round format. The number of outs increased to ten and with that the players had to hit as many homers as possible. This format was retained till 2005, after which there was a slight tweak made in 2006. The tally was not reset after every round and only brought back to square one before the final round.

The most significant changes came in 2015 and the biggest one was switching from an outs-based system to time-bound rounds. In addition, bonus time was introduced for homers that covered a specific distance. If a home run exceeds the distance of 420 feet, the batter gets an extra minute. The batters can earn an additional 30 seconds if their homer goes beyond the 475-feet mark. The evolution of the derby has made it more enthralling and has put several power hitters on the home plate for the title.

Third seed Mookie Betts is the third seed right behind Alonso and Robert Jr. The power hitter from the Dodgers has hit 23 home runs in the regular season this year. With the season at its midway point, the 30-year-old is expected to double his home run tally this year.

One homer behind Betts is Adolis Garcia. In 86 games this year, Garcia has smashed 22 home runs. His hits have been pivotal for the Texas Rangers this season. Despite being the fourth seed, Garcia is not amongst the top favorites to win the derby.

Garcia will be up against fifth-seed Randy Arozarena, in what is expected to be the tightest first-round match-up. In his entire career, Arozarena has knocked the ball out of the park 64 times in 421 games. This season, in 84 games, the Tampa Bay Rays batter has smashed 16 homers. Toronto Blue Jays’ first baseman, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., is the sixth seed but is a top favorite to bag the title this year despite hitting only 13 home runs in 83 games in the regular season. Seventh seed Julio Rodriguez and eighth seed Adley Rutschman complete the list.

MLB Home Run Derby Betting Odds

Odds taken from DraftKings

Player	Odds
Pete Alonso	+250
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.	+300
Julio Rodriguez	+450
Luis Rober Jr.	+550
Adolis Garcia	+600
Randy Arozarena	+800
Adley Rutschman	+1000
Mookie Betts	+1200