Major League Baseball's Home Run Derby will take place tonight at 8:00pm ET from Nationals Park in Washington D.C. The Derby, the fourth installment since the event went to a timed format, can be seen on ESPN.
Eight sluggers, seven of whom are from the National League, will be pitted against each other in bracket form to determine the home run king. Each round, players will be given four minutes to hit as many home runs as possible. They are allowed one 45-second timeout to stop the clock, and will be awarded an extra 30 seconds should they hit two home runs further than 440 feet. The player that hits more homers in the allotted time advances to the next round.
There is no re-seeding: The No. 1/8 winner plays No. 4/5, while the other two quarterfinal winners match up. If there is a tie, batters will engage in a 60-second "swing-off." No timeouts are granted during tiebreakers.
The matchups were determined by the number of home runs hit heading into the All-Star festivities.
#1 Jesus Aguilar, Brewers (24 home runs) vs. #8 Rhys Hoskins, Phillies (14 home runs)
#2 Bryce Harper, Nationals (23 home runs) vs. #7 Freddie Freeman, Braves (16 home runs)
#3 Max Muncy, Dodgers (22 home runs), vs. #6 Javy Baez, Cubs (19 home runs)
#4 Alex Bregman, Astros (20 home runs) vs. #5 Kyle Schwarber, Cubs (18 home runs)
According to online sportsbook Bovada, Bryce Harper is the favorite (+225), followed by Chicago Cubs outfielder Kyle Schwarber at +350 and Cubs second baseman Javier Baez at +500.
The MLB homerun leader, Jesus Aguilar, checks in at +500, followed by Dodgers first baseman Max Muncy at +650, Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman at +750, Phillies outfielder Rhys Hoskins at +900 and Alex Bregman, the lone American League representative, as the underdog in the Home Run Derby field at +1100.
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