MLB Home Run Derby 2024 live updates, results: Teoscar Hernández beats Bobby Witt Jr. to claim title
Teoscar Hernández wins 2024 Home Run Derby
The final round of the Home Run Derby always reminds that for as much as this is a competition of brute power, it is also a test of elite endurance.
Needing 14 home runs to take the crown from Teoscar Hernández, Bobby Witt Jr.’s hands appeared slower. His bat path at times became longer. Witt, however, blasted four home runs in the final eight swings of his regular round, entering the bonus period with 11 home runs.
The product of nearby Colleyville, Texas, earned a bonus swing with a mammoth 450 foot home run in the extra period. On his final swing, with 13 home runs, Witt smoked a ball that died in center field and hit off the bottom of the wall.
That means Hernández, the Dodgers’ outfielder, is this year’s Home Run Derby champion.
GO FURTHER
Teoscar Hernández wins MLB Home Run Derby in dramatic finish
'I’m going to bet on myself:' Teoscar Hernández steps into spotlight with Home Run Derby win
(Photo: Sam Hodde / Getty Images)
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. 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 ever to win the Home Run Derby when he topped Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. in the final round. Witt’s final swing of the night would have tied but fell just short in center field.
“If I have to bet, it doesn’t matter who I’m going against, I’m going to bet on myself,” Hernández said. “People maybe underestimate myself, and you could see it at the end when Witt was hitting all those homers. But I’m here.”
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 swing-off. 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 center field wall, just feet from tying the competition.
“Oh man, I was nervous,” Hernández said. “That God it didn’t go out, so, super happy.”
Advertisement
Great theater to end derby
Bobby Witt Jr. was one swing away with one out left
He lofted a long fly ball to left center field that floated in the night for - what? Four seconds? Five? 10?
But it clanked off the bottom of the wall
So Teoscar Hernandez is your 2024 Derby champ in a thriller, 14-13 in the final
Great theater.
The final round is closer to a sprint
Just 30 swings in a two-minute window. Teoscar Hernández hit four before calling time. He was cooking with gas afterward, finishing with 11 in regulation. In the bonus round, Hernández made it to 14. That's a sizable sum this late in the competition. Witt has his work cut out for him.
Either way, history will be made: Neither a Dodger nor a Royal has ever won the Derby.
Advertisement
We're headed for a swing-off
After his 21 home runs in Round 1, Alec Bohm struggled through his first nine swings. After 17 swings, he had mustered only three home runs. His swing flattened out as if he were partaking in a base-hit derby. Then, suddenly, the home runs started flying.
His myriad Phillies teammates started cheering off to the side. With the clock winding down in regulation, Bohm tied Teoscar Hernández at 14 home runs. He hit a ball that hooked foul as time expired. In the bonus round, Bohm just got under two balls that fell short of the fence.
Bohm and Hernández are headed for a swing-off.
Alec Bohm needs 14 to advance
Teoscar Hernández got off to a slow start in the semifinals. Perez noticed on the broadcast that Hernández had incorporated a toe-tap into his approach, and it took him several swings before he went deep. He managed only three homers before his timeout with 22 swings left.
During the break, he chatted with former Toronto teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who won this event last year. He re-directed his aim toward the left-field wall, rather than center, and experienced better results: 13 homers in regulation. He could only produce one more.
So Alec Bohm will need to beat 14 to advance to the finals against Witt.
José Ramírez gets eliminated
José Ramírez’s compact stroke helped him belt 21 homers in the first round. But broadcasters had been quick to point out the lack of distance on his home runs compared to others in the field. In the semifinal, the balls Ramírez hit mostly fell short of the fence.
After a mid-round timeout, Ramírez began to find a rhythm and finished with 12, but it was not enough to match Bobby Witt Jr.’s 17 home runs. Ramírez is done. Witt will advance to the final.
Advertisement
Witt Jr. hits 17 homers in second round
Bobby Witt Jr. returned to the plate for a second round of hacks. His swing is quite efficient. Not a lot of wasted motion. Everything was bound for left field.
He took his breather with six homers on the board and 20 swings left. His barrage included a 454-foot blast. He ended regulation with 17. But overtime was not fruitful, so he'll end with 17.
Just as I predicted (nobody remembers, right?) Gunnar Henderson had the fewest home runs in the first round. This is the joy and the pain of picking the proverbial indie band.
They either blow up and become everyone else's darling, or they break up after the drummer kisses the bassist's girlfriend, leading to a knock-down drag-out brawl on the side of I-80 in Nebraska, a solid five hours from the nearest airport.
As the ESPN broadcast noted, only two shortstops have ever won the Home Run Derby. Both of them played for the Baltimore Orioles — Cal Ripken Jr. (1991) and Miguel Tejada (2004).
Gunnar Henderson entered the night as one of the most popular picks to win this derby. But he will not join the list of Orioles shortstops to win the crown. Henderson did not homer until his 10th swing Monday, chopping low line drives into the outfield at the outset of his round.
Once Henderson began lifting the ball, he homered on four straight swings but still finished regulation with only 11 home runs. Henderson’s Scooby-Doo themed “Zoinks!” bat won’t get any more use this evening.
Advertisement
'Just like everyone thought.'
After two-time derby champion Pete Alonso hit only 12 home runs, mics picked up Alec Bohm saying, “How about that? Just like everybody thought.”
Bohm is now a lock for the semifinals after he opened the derby with 21 homers.
Bohm’s latest challenger, Guardians third baseman José Ramírez, is a switch-hitter with remarkably even splits over the course of his career. Ramírez has often practiced hitting right-handed in these settings.
Instead, Ramírez chose today to hit left-handed. His swing looked smooth and consistent as he launched repeated home runs over the wall above right-center field. Ramírez entered his bonus round with 15 home runs. He could not earn extra outs by hitting a home run longer than 425 feet, but Ramírez began smoking lower line drives that crept over the right-field wall.
He upped his total to 21 homers, tied with Bohm atop the leaderboard.