2024 MLB Home Run Derby format: Explaining event’s rule changes

2024-07-15 20:20:02

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One of baseball’s most acclaimed events will conclude on Monday night.

The annual Home Run Derby, part of the 2024 MLB All-Star Week festivities, will be held at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Monday, a day before the All-Star Game. Eight of the sport’s top sluggers — Pete Alonso, Gunnar Henderson, Marcell Ozuna, Bobby Witt Jr., Adolis Garcia, Alec Bohm, Jose Ramirez and Teoscar Hernandez — will battle for the trophy.

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Alonso, the New York Mets first baseman who has won the derby twice in his career, is looking to tie Ken Griffey Jr. for the most titles in MLB history (three). He fell last year to the Toronto Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who is not in this season’s competition.

The home run derby rules often change, as do other All-Star Week events across professional sports. Here’s an explanation of the 2024 MLB Home Run Derby format:

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Home run derby format 2024

The 2024 MLB Home Run Derby adopted new rules for its upcoming All-Star Week event.

Format

Although the rules aren’t as big of a change as in 2015 (when the MLB changed the competition’s format from an “outs” system to time system), the change is still quite notable from 2023. The derby was bracket style last year, with all participants seeded 1-8 based on their home run totals on the season heading into the event. The 1-on-1s continued until two players were left.

There won’t a bracket-style system until the semifinals in 2024, and the first round won’t have predetermined seeds. Instead, the first round will consist of all eight sluggers competing together, with the top four performances heading to the semifinals. The semifinals will then seed each of the remaining hitters based on home run totals from the first round.

If there’s a tiebreaker in the first round, the advantage will go to the player with the longest home run of the round.

Time limit

In years past, hitters could see an unlimited number of pitches within the time limit. In 2024, the rule has shifted significantly: Now, hitters will either see 40 pitches or hit for three minutes — whichever mark comes first — for both the first round and semifinal rounds.

The finals will be two minutes long, or 27 pitches, whichever comes first.

Bonus period

Then there’s the bonus period, which also has been overhauled in 2024. The old format gave hitters an automatic extra 30 seconds of hitting onto the end of their turn, with hitters able to earn up to 60 seconds if they hit two home runs of 440 feet or more during the regulation period.

Now, the bonus period is untimed and grants hitters extra pitches. Each hitter receives an unlimited number of pitches until three outs (non-home runs) are reached. If a batter hits a home run of 425 feet or further in the bonus period, they receive a fourth out with which to work.

The new bonus period allows for hitters to get hot and have a chance to come back and win, regardless of the first period.

Otherwise, the other rules have stayed the same, with hitters each receiving a 45-second timeout they can use whenever they want during their turn. If there’s a tie in the semifinal or final, hitters will then move to a sudden death, 60-second swing off to decide the winner.