Home Run Derby: Start time, participants, bracket, how to watch and stream

For the first time in four years, Phillies fans will have someone to root for in the Home Run Derby.

Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber is the top seed heading into Monday’s Derby, which begins at 8 p.m. on ESPN. Schwarber will face off in the first round against 42-year-old St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols, the No. 8 seed who is participating in his fifth Derby and his first since 2015.

Schwarber’s last Derby appearance was in 2018 while a member of the Chicago Cubs, when he finished second behind then-Washington Nationals slugger Bryce Harper. This time around, Schwarber enters the competition as the odds-on favorite after leading the National League in home runs with 29.

“He pretty much does the Home Run Derby every day,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson told reporters.

» READ MORE: Bryce Harper and other MLB stars swing only one bat — and it’s made in Philly’s backyard

Schwarber said it was important for him to represent the Phillies this year. The last time Philadelphia had a player out there swinging for the fences was in 2018, when Rhys Hoskins made it to the second round, but lost by one home run to Harper.

Two Phillies players have won the Derby — Bobby Abreu in 2005 and Ryan Howard in 2006.

It’s the first time the Derby has been held at Dodger Stadium, the longtime home of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers last hosted the All-Star Game in 1980. They also hosted the All-Star Game in 1949, but back then the team was still in Brooklyn playing at Ebbets Field.

Here’s everything you need to know to watch or stream this year’s Home Run Derby:

The 2022 MLB Home Run Derby is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. Eastern and will air live on ESPN.

The Derby will also stream live on the ESPN app, though it’s only available there for cable subscribers. It will also stream live on MLB.TV, though the subscription service is hardly worth it for Phillies fans in the Philadelphia market due to its blackout rules.

The Derby can also be streamed on a host of services that have ESPN, including FuboTV, Hulu With Live TV, DirecTV Stream, Sling TV, or YouTube TV. But it won’t be available to watch on ESPN+, the network’s streaming service.

Calling his sixth Home Run Derby for ESPN is Karl Ravech, who will broadcast the competition alongside Eduardo Perez. Buster Olney and Marly Rivera will report from the field. The network will also offer a Statcast telecast on ESPN2 with Jason Benetti, Jessica Mendoza, and MLB Statcast analyst Mike Petriello on the call.

Following the Derby, ESPN will air the first episode of The Captain, the network’s new seven-part documentary series about New York Yankees Hall of Famer Derek Jeter. New episodes will air every Thursday night through Aug. 11.

» READ MORE: Phillies draft high-school outfielder Justin Crawford, son of ex-major leaguer Carl Crawford

The seeding of the players was determined by their 2022 home run totals as of Wednesday. Tiebreakers were determined by 2021 home run totals.

The Home Run Derby dates back to 1985, and just one player has managed to win the competition three times — Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr.

New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso is looking to match Griffey’s record Monday. Alonso topped Baltimore Orioles first baseman Trey Mancini 23-22 in the final round of 2021′s competition, and defeated Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in 2019. The Derby was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Alonso took home more money from winning two Home Run Derbys ($2 million) then he earned as a base salary for the Mets from 2019 to 2021 ($1.47 million), according to Newsday Mets beat writer Tim Healey. And if he dominates the Derby Monday, Alonso will be the first to win three straight competitions.

Only two other players have won two Derbys — Prince Fielder (2009 and 2012) and Yoenis Céspedes (2013 and 2014).

» READ MORE: Harper, Schwarber, and Hoskins relive 2018 Home Run Derby

The Derby is a single-elimination bracket event with three rounds. During the first two rounds, each batter has three minutes to belt out as many home runs as they can. During the final round, the time is reduced to two minutes per batter.

Batters are awarded 30 seconds of bonus time at the conclusion of each regulation period. A batter can earn an additional 30 seconds by belting out a home run over 440 feet during the regulation period.

Hitters are entitled to one 45-second timeout in each round, though that doesn’t extend into a batter’s bonus time.

In the event of a tie, the top two batters will face off in a 60-second swing-off. If a tie remains after that, hitters battle in successive three-swing swing-offs until there is a winner.

There have been just two ties in Derby history — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. edged out Joc Pederson in the third tiebreaker in 2019, while Juan Soto topped Shohei Ohtani in the first round of the swing-off in 2021.

The winner of the Derby takes home $1 million, thanks to a new agreement between MLB and the MLB Players Association put in place prior to the 2019 season.