Table of Content
The winner of the 1 vs. 8 matchup will play the 4 vs. 5 winner in the semifinals, while the 2 vs. 7 winner will go up against the 3 vs. 6 winner. The derby started with a bang when eighth seed Rhys Hoskins of the Philadelphia Phillies clubbing 17 home runs, hoping to spark an upset of top seed Jesus Aguilar. Hometown starBryce Harper of the Washington Nationals headlined the field of eight players, which had several young stars set to take the stage for the first time. Jesus Aguilar of the Milwaukee Brewers entered as the surprise top seed after putting together a first-half offensive outburst. This is the first Home Run Derby title for Harper, who was the runner-up to Yoenis Cespedes in the 2013 Home Run Derby.
He was 2-1 with a 3.71 ERA in three starts that postseason, beating the powerhouse Oakland Athletics 8-3 on the road in Game 3 of the World Series to help the Reds pull off a stunning four-game sweep. Browning’s gem against the Dodgers was one of just 23 perfect games in major league history and the only one for the Reds, baseball’s oldest professional franchise. Each player will have four minutes to club as many home runs as possible, and the top scorer from each individual matchup will advance to the following round until a championship showdown is set. Schwarber was the first left-handed batter of the competition, and was also the first hitter to earn the 30 second bonus by hitting two shots of at least 440 feet. Schwarber had 14 home runs in his four minutes, then added two more in his extra 30 seconds, giving Bregman a big number of 16 to shoot at. Below is a closer look at each of the eight participants and the four first-round matchups, plus the stats for each player through the first half of the 2018 season.
MLB Home Run Derby results, bracket: Bryce Harper walks it off in Nationals Park
The 2018 Home Run Derby is here, with eight players competing in three rounds at Nationals Park in Washington D.C. Below, we'll go over where to watch the event, the format, the odds for the competitors and the eight-man bracket. Bryce Harper is the third player to win the Home Run Derby in his team's own stadium the first two being Ryne Sandberg in 1990 and Todd Frazier in 2015. Jesus Aguilar has put everything together in second full MLB season after making his debut in 2014 with the Cleveland Indians. In his second season with the Brewers, Aguilar already has surpassed his previous career home run total. The top seed will go up against another young slugger in Rhys Hoskins of the Phillies.
You often see hitters run out of premium unleaded in the 2nd round of the Derby. Kyle Schwarber won't be an All-Star, but he's as good of a bet as anyone to put on a show in Washington. When he connects, his power takes over, and he'll likely put together a few highlight reel swings on Monday. He'l go up against Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman in the first round. Kyle Schwarber put on a show, including a pair of long blasts to give him an extra 30 seconds. That proved vital in holding off Alex Bregman, who nearly rallied to tie Schwarber.
Live updates from Nationals Park
When a player hits a home run in the final minute of their respective round the clock will stop and will restart once the player completes a non-home run swing. In each round, each batter will receive four minutes to hit as many home runs as possible, with no limit on outs or swings. Each player will be allowed to take one timeout during the first round and the semifinals, and the two players in the final will be granted two timeouts. Schwarber caught fire in the final two minutes of his semifinal performance, rallying to catch Hoskins. He had the benefit of 30 extra seconds after hitting more than two home runs over 440 feet, but he didn't need the bonus time. He launched his 21st home run as time expired to win the round.
Statcast defines a 'hard-hit ball' as one hit with an exit velocity of 95 mph or higher. Oakland Athletics designated hitter Khris Davis, who is tied for fourth in Major League Baseball with 20 homers, could take part in the 2018 Home Run Derby. It was just the fifth and sixth rounds of 20 or more home runs in 52 total rounds since this new timed, bracketed format was introduced in 2015.
Time for Harper to Put on a Show in Front of His Home Fans
In a Home Run Derby without many superstars, Harper stands out as the biggest name in the competition. The hometown favorite and pending free agent will look to put on a show in front of National fans, while division rival Freddie Freeman of the Atlanta Braves will look to upset the powerful lefty. The Home Run Derby began with an upset when eighth-seeded Rhys Hoskins of the Phillies ousted top-seeded Jesus Aguilar of the Brewers. Aguilar had a solid showing, going for 12 home runs, but it wasn't enough to match Hoskins' 17. The four first-round winners moved on to the semifinals, where Bryce Harper, Max Muncy, Rhys Hoskins and Kyle Schwarber attempted to secure spots in the final.
Harper faces Freddie Freeman in the first round of the event bracket. Milwaukee's Jesus Aguilar is the top seed, and he'll take on Rhys Hoskins to start. Alex Bregman vs. Kyle Schwarber and Javier Baez vs. Max Muncy are the other two matchups. Five of the players will also participate in Tuesday's MLB All-Star Game, while three will just swing away in Monday's derby. Browning went 15-9 with a 3.80 ERA in 1990 to help the Reds win their most recent pennant and World Series crown.
Baez, Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman, Brewers first baseman Jesus Aguilar, and Astros third baseman Alex Bregman were eliminated in the first round of the 2018 Home Run Derby. Harper beat Dodgers breakout star Max Muncy in the second round to get to the finals. Schwarber knocked off Phillies slugger Rhys Hoskins to advance. Jump is a Statcast metric that shows which players have the fastest reactions and most direct routes in the outfield. How hard, in miles per hour, a fielder throws the ball.
Max Muncy started this season in the minors, and since getting called up by the Dodgers in April leads the team with 22 home runs, matching his total in the majors and minors for 2015 and 2016 combined. He delivered the first walk-off of the night, hitting his 17th home run to beat Baez with 32 seconds still on the clock. Rhys Hoskins tied for the best total in the first round with 17, then promptly opened the second round with an even better showing. He blasted 19 home runs in his four minutes, and also earned the bonus 30 seconds with two long shots. He tacked on one more for the first 20 round of the night. Festivities for the2018 MLB All-Star Gamekicked off on Monday night when eight of baseball's top sluggers took their swings in the Home Run Derbyat8 p.m.
The 2018 Major League Baseball Home Run Derby was a home run hitting contest between eight batters from Major League Baseball . The derby was held on July 16, 2018, at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., the site of the 2018 MLB All-Star Game. Bryce Harper was the winner, as he beat Kyle Schwarber, in the final 19–18, winning the derby in front of his hometown crowd. He tied Schwarber on the last pitch as time expired in regulation; then won it with 16 seconds left in bonus time. Kyle Schwarber set a great pace with 18 in his final round, including one in bonus time.
Diamondbacks All-Star pitcher Zack Greinke is never one to hold back his opinions. The total number of home runs hit on Tuesday was 221, surpassing for a new Home Run Derby record. Facing potentially the easiest route to get into the final round, coupled with being at his home park, Harper is an easy guy to peg as the favorite for this event. Sure, we could talk about his .214 batting average, but that has no bearing on this particular event. Now, it's a bit more like a video game and adds the element of a time limit. This is an event in which eight of the most powerful hitters get together to demonstrate their power in a competition to see who the home-run-hitting king is.
Schwarber, the first hitter in the final round, swatted 18 home runs, with a 453-footer ranking as his longest. Javier Baez swings at everything, which we saw in the first round. Baez secured the bonus 30 seconds with two long homers in the first minute of his round, then ended up with 16, including two in his extra time. If two players are tied at the end of their matchup, each player will get an additional 60 seconds to break the tie. If the tie lasts beyond the bonus 60 seconds, the matchup will go to three-swing swing offs until a winner is determined.
Bregman's last swing produced a line drive off the wall, ending the nail-biting matchup. Schwarber hit 55 home runs total in the three rounds, second most ever behind Giancarlo Stanton's 61 in 2016. Just more than a month later, the Dodgers won the World Series – making Browning the lone pitcher to toss a perfecto against the team that won the championship that same year. A Bolt is any run where the Sprint Speed (defined as "feet per second in a player's fastest one-second window") of the runner is at least 30 ft/sec. The likelihood, in percent, that an outfielder will be able to make a catch on an individual batted ball. How far off the mound, in feet, a pitcher releases the pitch.
The hometown favorite moved on in his first-round matchup, with Nationals slugger Bryce Harper booming 13 home runs. That topped Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman, who had a strong finish to reach 12 home runs. Rhys Hoskins of the Phillies set the mark by winning his first-round matchup with 17 home runs. Nationals outfielder embraced the role of hometown hero for the Derby, earning a spot in the final with another solid showing the semis. Dodgers infielder Max Muncy, who hit 17 home runs in his first-round win, appeared to run out of gas toward the end of the semifinals. During Harper's bonus 30 seconds, he hit a pair of dingers to win it, including the clinching shot over the centerfield wall.
No comments:
Post a Comment