Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
The best event of any All-Star weekend in sports is tonight and we’ll get to watch Pete Alonso go for his third consecutive championship in it.
The 2022 Home Run Derby starts tonight at 8:00 at Dodger Stadium. It will be broadcasted on ESPN.
The back-to-back champ Alonso is the favorite to win. If he does he’ll tie Ken Griffey Jr. for most derby wins in history.
But Alonso’s path to victory isn’t as easy as he may make it seem. There’s an electrifying field all trying to hit the most home runs possible. Although, he does have a secret weapon. Former Mets bench coach Dave Jauss will pitch to Alonso for the second-straight year. Jauss made every pitch over the heart of the place in 2021’s competition.
In the head-to-head format the eight contestants will only have to beat who they’re facing to advance.
The bracket is as follows:
- 1. Kyle Schwarber vs. 8. Albert Pujols
- 4. Juan Soto vs. 5. Jose Ramirez
- 6. Julio Rodriguez vs. 3. Corey Seager
- 7. Ronald Acuña Jr. vs. 2. Pete Alonso
Participants were seeded for the amount of home runs they’ve hit as of July 13.
If you haven’t seen the derby recently here’s how it works:
- Each contestant gets three minutes in the first and second rounds to hit as many home runs he can. Contestants in the finals, or the third round, get two minutes.
- Each contestant gets a bonus of 30 seconds at the end of each regulation period, and that time can be increased to 60 seconds if the contestant hits a home run of at least 440 feet.
- Each contestant gets one 45-second time out during each regulation period.
- Any round ending in a tie will be decided by a 60-second “swing off” with no time outs or bonus time.
- The winner gets $1 million of the $2.5 million prize pool.
Let’s go Mets and let’s get that three-Pete!
