Pete Alonso is going to get his Home Run Derby revenge match against Julio Rodriguez. This time around it will be in front of a biased crowd.
The first-round matchup between the New York Mets’ first baseman, a two-time champion, and the Mariners’ center fielder, highlights the slate for the 38th Derby, which will air Monday on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET from Seattle’s T-Mobile Park. The winner will receive a $1 million grand prize.
After winning the previous two Derbies, Alonso was vanquished last year in the semifinals at Dodger Stadium by Rodriguez, then a 21-year-old rookie phenom. The winner of No. 2-seeded Alonso and No. 7-seeded Rodriguez will face the winner of third-seeded Los Angeles Dodgers Mookie Betts, making his Home Run Derby debut, and sixth-seeded Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays, who set the single-round (40) and whole-Derby (91) records in 2019 but lost to Alonso in the finals.
Chicago White Sox center fielder Luis Robert, who announced his participation Wednesday, will be the No. 1 seed on account of his 25 home runs. He will go head-to-head against Baltimore catcher Adley Rutschman, whose 11 longballs are the fewest among the competitors.
Joining Betts, Robert, and Rutschman as first-timers are the final participants, fourth-seeded Texas Rangers outfielder Adolis Garcia and fifth-seeded Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena, who are close friends.
Among those not in the Derby: defending champion Juan Soto from the San Diego Padres, two-way megastar Shohei Ohtani, due to a blister on his pitching hand, who has competed once, in 2021, and Cincinnati Reds rookie Elly De La Cruz, who said he declined the invite.
The Alonso-Rodriguez matchup should provide a wonderful show and story line for a Derby that has been enhanced by a new format in which the league introduced a bracket system, gave each player 4 minutes a round to hit as many home runs as possible (with one timeout) and awards 30 seconds of bonus time for players who hit two home runs at least 440 feet.
Rodriguez, the sixth seed last year, hit an opening-round high 32 home runs and followed that up with the shocking upset of the night, beating Alonso, 31-23 in the semifinals. However, he came back down to earth in the finals, hitting 18 home runs and losing by one to Soto. Rodriguez’s 81 home runs were the second-highest total in Derby history. Alonso’s consistent power has him knotted with Robert among Derby participants with 25 this season. He defeated Guerrero and Trey Mancini in back-to-back contests by the exact same score, 23-22.
Betts, who at 30 is the old man in the field, said he agreed to partake in the even because his wife, Brianna, asked him to. With 23 home runs through 82 games, Betts is on pace to smash his personal single-season record of 35 set last year. The 24-year-old Guerrero had trouble finding power through the first two-plus months of the season but has come on of late with four homers in his last 10 games, he is up to 13 on the season.
The 25-year-old Rutschman, better known for getting on base and his elite defensive skills than his use of the power game, made his major league debut just weeks prior to last year’s Derby. His opponent, the 25-year-old Robert, has already nearly doubled his career high in home runs and ranks second in the American League, six behind Ohtani.
One month after the St. Louis Cardinals cut Garcia in December 2019, they traded Arozarena to the Rays. Both from Cuba, Garcia and Arozarena roomed together during spring training in 2017 and were teammates that year and the following season at Double-A and Triple-A. Garcia, 30, is one of six Rangers All-Stars, and Arozarena, 28, is the lone AL outfielder voted by fans to start who will play in the game, as Yankees star Aaron Judge and Angels star Mike Trout are out with injuries.
Robert said Arozarena and Garcia convinced him to participate in the Derby.
“I talked with a couple of my countrymen who said they are going to participate in the Derby and then they convinced me. Randy and Adolis. We all said, ‘let’s do it,'” Robert said through an interpreter. “I’m pretty sure I’m going to feel very happy during those two days. It’s going to be very special for me.”
