Listen to this articleWe love home runs here at MLB Daily Dingers. That’s pretty obvious. Is it also surprising there’s one particular event during All-Star week that catches our eye the most? Probably not. We’re already looking forward to the 2023 Home Run Derby.
To properly channel that excitement, we’re collecting information about the event as it becomes available right here.
Where is the 2023 Home Run Derby?
The Seattle Mariners will play host for the 2023 All-Star Game and All-Star Week activities/events. Formerly known as Safeco Field when it first opened, the Mariners’ home has been called T-Mobile Park since 2019. This is the third time Seattle has been tabbed as host, but the first time since 2001.
The Home Run Derby is on the schedule for July 10th, 2023. The time is currently to be determined, but it’s typically at 8 pm EST, which would mean 5 pm PST for those actually heading to the ballpark.
2023 Home Run Derby Tickets
The Home Run Derby usually airs on ESPN, so it should easy to watch if you’re not at the ballpark. But if you’re looking for tickets to this cool event, make sure you save up your pennies. Seats are definitely not cheap.
Who Will be Participating in the Home Run Derby?
This is a question we don’t know the answer to yet. We won’t start getting answers until the season is a couple of months old, either. Typically, Major League Baseball likes to extend invites to the league leaders in home runs (or, guys they know can put on a good show).
It doesn’t always work out, though. MLB tried getting both Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani to join last summer, but they declined. They also tried to reel in Vladimir Guerrero Jr., but he cited his health as a reason for not participating.
Juan Soto won the event at Dodger Stadium in 2022, so you’d have to imagine he’d be invited back to defend his title. And since the Home Run Derby will be in Seattle, there will be at least one Mariners player in the bracket. Seattle has several power hitters who could fit the bill, but none better than Julio Rodriguez. That’s what happens when you hit 81 dingers in the Home Run Derby as a 21-year-old rookie.
The American League will be looking for its first Home Run Derby win since 2017 when Judge won the event. The National League has won each of the last four (Bryce Harper in ’18, Pete Alonso in ’19 and ’21, and Soto in ’22). And if we go back to Todd Frazier‘s 2015 victory, an NL player has won six of the last seven times.
Here’s the Current Format
While there could be some small changes/tweaks to the overall format, we can assume things will mostly stay the same as they have in recent years. Mostly because the event is jam-packed with action and moves along at a mostly brisk pace. Here’s what the format has been:
Eight participants are put into a bracket for a head-to-head matchup. Seeding is determined by how many first-half homers they hit. Hitters receive three-minute timed at-bats in the first two rounds (two-minute at-bats in the finals).
Each slugger is allowed to use one 45-second timeout. If they slug at least two homers 440-plus feet, they earn 30 seconds of bonus time in addition to the 30 seconds everyone gets at the end of each round.
Two tiebreakers are in place. The first is a one-minute at-bat to hit as many homers as possible. If both players are still tied, they have a Swing-Off, where they get three swings each to see if the tie can be broken.
A Full Rundown of Home Run Derby History
Before the 2023 Home Run Derby gets underway, it’s important to revisit history by taking a stroll down memory lane. That’s where we come in to help out.
If you’re looking for a complete list of winners, full standings, old formats, and some videos, head right here. We’ve also spent time discussing the best single-round performances, the best single-derby performances, and the all-time Derby home run leaderboard.
