WASHINGTON — Steps from the United States’ seat of power, Major League Baseball will bring the power to Nationals Park tonight in the T-Mobile Home Run Derby. Homer-hitting host Bryce Harper leads a fascinating — and young — field of Derby entrants who will look to beat the clock and each other in the sport’s most swinging showcase at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Harper is the only one among the eight participating sluggers who has done the Derby before, having finished as the runner-up to Yoenis Cespedes in 2013 at Citi Field. So, Harper has the experience, and he’s got the comfort of competing in his own confines. But he’s also got some of the season’s biggest stars — and biggest surprises — to contend with.
Here are the seedings and first-round matchups for what is the youngest Home Run Derby field ever:
Left side of bracket
1. Jesus Aguilar, Brewers vs. 8. Rhys Hoskins, Phillies
4. Alex Bregman, Astros vs. 5. Kyle Schwarber, Cubs
Right side of bracket
2. Harper, Nationals vs. 7. Freddie Freeman, Braves
3. Max Muncy, Dodgers vs. 6. Javier Baez, Cubs
That’s the field, and the rules and format will be the same as they’ve been since 2015, which is to say the ticking clock and the importance of not just going deep but extra deep — with the dinger distances measured by Statcast™ having an impact on extra time allotments — are in full effect.
The average age of the participants is 26.39. As a matter of fact, this year’s oldest participants, the 28-year-old Freeman and Aguilar, weren’t even born when the Derby was first held in 1985.
• Home Run Derby history
Three of the participants — Hoskins, Schwarber and Muncy — are competing in the Derby despite not being selected for the National League All-Star squad. So we’ve got dingers, and we’ve got ringers.
Given the relative youth and the specific inexperience involved here, it’s difficult to know what to expect from this group. Harper can only hope that the groove he got into five years ago, when at 20 years old he became the youngest player to reach the Derby final, will be replicated.
By Anthony Castrovince
