MLB Home Run Derby: Teoscar Hernández outlasts Bobby Witt Jr. in underwhelming competition

ARLINGTON, Texas — The ball hurdled off Bobby Witt Jr.’s bat toward the deep right-center-field gap at Globe Life Field as the 35,000 or so remaining fans held their breath. A home run would tie Teoscar Hernández’s final-round total of 14 and give the Royals shortstop and hometown kid a chance to take the lead. An out would mean victory for the big-grinning Dodgers outfielder.

Witt had just made a late charge, ripping a string of homers in the final to claw his way back into the mix. For the first time since about when Texas Ranger Adolis García was eliminated as the third contestant, the crowd was interested again.

A strand of sweat-soaked hair peeked out from beneath the Royals cap perched on Witt’s head. His eyes laser-focused, his tongue hanging out, the kid from 20 minutes north of the park watched as the ball carried, hoping for what would have been a storybook ending.

Instead, the ball clanged off the base of the wall, right under the 410 sign.

Fireworks exploded into the air as the crowd groaned in disappointment; an appropriately underwhelming end to the most underwhelming Derby in recent memory.

Put simply: Some parties are better than others. And the 2024 Home Run Derby was something of a dud; the stars shined dim in the heart of Texas.

Actually, most of the game’s biggest stars watched from the sidelines. Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Bryce Harper, Elly De La Cruz, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Yordan Álvarez, who all declined to participate, took in the show from couches on the baselines. By the time Alec Bohm popped up to lose a semifinal swing-off against Hernández, only about six All-Stars who weren’t teammates of the remaining competitors could be spotted out on the field.

And if the players don’t feel compelled to watch, why should the fans? Case in point, when the lights cut out and boxing announcing icon Michael Buffer announced the finalists, there was a noticeable smattering of empty seats dotting the inner bowl behind home plate and the top of the upper decks.

The wonderful moments that have so often elevated the Derby — when a hitter goes on a heater, ripping ball after ball into the bleachers, the oohs and ahhs growing in volume with each blast — were nowhere to be found Monday. There was no 2008 Josh Hamilton in The Bronx or 2017 Aaron Judge in Miami or 2019 Vlad Jr. in Cleveland. None of the eight contestants ever really caught fire.

Whether that is because of bad luck, this particular octet of hitters or issues with the current format is hard to say. But as somebody who adores this event — the only one on the baseball calendar that exists primarily to platform having a good dang time — I can only describe the 2024 Derby as sluggish.

Teoscar Hernández, the Dodgers’ 31-year-old left fielder who won the darn thing, was a fine winner. He’s a phenomenal hitter having a phenomenal season and a lovely, engaging personality who seemingly always has a smile on his face. This evening must have been a true highlight of his career, especially after a thoroughly poor offensive season in 2023 raised doubts about his future. Seeing him take a family photo with his entire crew decked out in Dodger blue was very cute.

But the only Dodger still around to witness Hernández’s victory was Tyler Glasnow. The American League side was even emptier. And it wasn’t Hernández’s fault that the evening slogged on about an hour too long.

The night began ominously, with an all-time bizarre rendition of the national anthem. Something was clearly wrong with the audio setup for four-time Grammy-nominated artist Ingrid Andress, who was outrageously off-key. Her performance drew social media comparisons to Fergie’s wonky rendition from the 2018 NBA All-Star Game.

Then Bohm, the Phillies' third baseman who currently leads MLB in doubles, led off the evening with a seemingly respectable total of 21. Considering that Bohm entered the night with the fewest regular-season home runs of anyone in the contest, that felt like a worthy opening salvo. Instead, it ended up being the top tally of the first round. Compare that to last year’s event, when six of the eight hitters cranked at least 26 in the first round, and Julio Rodríguez stroked 41.

The event’s new, hybrid pitch-count-plus-clock system might be the culprit for the dip in numbers. The system was a bit difficult to follow and resulted in the worst of both worlds; players were exhausted, and the raw totals were underwhelming. Players were, for the first time, restricted to 40 total pitches within a three-minute window. That meant that if a pitcher hit a cold stretch, all those wayward tosses counted against the hitter’s total.

Something was just ... off about the evening. Two-time champion Pete Alonso, who cares more about this event than anyone else on the planet, poofed out with a soggy 12 homers. Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson, the biggest young star in the competition besides Witt, never got into a groove and was eliminated with a night-low total of 11. García, with his home crowd behind him, couldn’t reach the second round. Braves DH Marcell Ozuna had the two longest tanks of the night but also didn’t advance.

That left a final four of Bohm, Witt, Hernández and Guardians third baseman José Ramírez, whose farthest first-round bomb was a meh 419 feet.

In the end, Hernández outlasted his competition, earning himself the $250,000 Home Run Derby championship chain and a $1,000,000 prize as a reward. That sum was upped a few years back to incentivize more top stars to participate. For a few years, the strategy seemed to work, but it’s undeniable that this event still needs another tweak or two.

Because when it rocks, it rocks. The Derby is the true highlight of All-Star Week, a star-maker, the type of event that kids stay up late to watch.

This year’s edition, unfortunately, was pretty sleepy.