Ex-Mariner Teoscar Hernández wins MLB Home Run Derby in dramatic finish
ARLINGTON, Texas – When Teoscar Hernández was with the Houston Astros as a rookie, he was a bottom-of-the-order role player. With the Toronto Blue Jays in his prime, Hernández was overshadowed by younger homegrown talent. In one year with the Seattle Mariners, he never fit in after a high-profile acquisition
Now with the high-wattage Los Angeles Dodgers, Hernández is the guy who hits behind Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and the rest of the Hollywood superstars.
On Monday night, it was Hernández’s turn to take the spotlight.
Nearly eliminated in both the first and second rounds, Hernández became the first Dodgers player to win the MLB Home Run Derby when he topped Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. in the final round.
Hernández was one away from elimination in the first round, and he advanced to the finals by beating Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm in a second-round swingoff. In the finals, Hernández hit 14 home runs. Witt had 13, and his final swing of the night fell just short, hitting the base of the wall in center field.
The Derby perhaps lacked the flash of some previous competitions. There was no Ken Griffey Jr. moment in Baltimore, or Mark McGwire in Boston, or Josh Hamilton in the Bronx. It didn’t have the electric atmosphere of Julio Rodriguez or Bryce Harper delivering iconic rounds in front of their home crowds. But Hernández was steady, a winner not for his ability to deliver a singular round but to be competitive throughout.
It helped that some of the big sluggers were eliminated early.
New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso was attempting to joining Ken Griffey Jr. to become only the second three-time Home Run Derby champion, but Alonso did not advance beyond the first round. At one point he went eight swings without a homer and finished the round with only nine (the only participant to be in single digits at the end of regulation). Alonso added three more in the bonus round, but his total of 12 was the second lowest of any competitor.
He wasn’t the only favorite knocked out early. Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson – like Witt an AL MVP candidate, and the player boasting the most first-half home runs of any participant – finished with only 11 in the first round, the lowest total in the Derby. He hit four in a row at one point, but otherwise never sustained a hot streak. Atlanta Braves DH Marcell Ozuna, who had the second-most first-half homers of any participant, hit the longest home run of the first round (473 feet) but finished with a total of 16. Adolis García of the Texas Rangers was a hometown favorite and proved an expert at hitting balls right down the left-field line and just over the wall in the corner, good for 18 home runs in regulation, but he failed to add any more in the bonus round and fell one short of advancing.
If Ozuna had hit one more home run, Hernández would have been eliminated then and there. Instead, the door was kept open, and Hernández just kept going.