When Teoscar Hernandez needed a moment to calm down during the Home Run Derby on Monday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers slugger got a boost from a former teammate who just happened to be last year’s champion.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr wore a Blue Jays jersey with Hernandez’s name and No. 37 on the back as he watched the competition, honoring his friend from their time as Toronto teammates from 2017 to 2022.
“That was a surprise of the night,” Herrnandez said. “He brings my jersey from Toronto, and when he goes to home plate. He was trying to calm [me] down, and so he had passed two times, and it works. He said he wanted to help me going into the last round.”
Photo:EPA-EFE
Hernandez won the Home Run Derby, beating local star Bobby Witt Jr of the Kansas City Royals 14-13 in the final round.
The 31-year-old Hernandez hit 49 homers over three rounds that totaled 3.98 miles (6.41km) and became the first Dodgers player to win the derby among 11 who have tried.
While not participating in the derby this year, Guerrero gave Hernandez advice during breaks.
“If I have to bet, it doesn’t matter who I’m going against, I’m going to bet on myself,” Hernandez said when asked if he felt like the underdog. “People maybe underestimate myself.”
Witt, needing one home run to tie with one out remaining, drove a ball to one of the deepest parts of Globe Life Field in left-center, where it hit halfway up the wall to the left of the 410-foot (125m) sign.
“When I hit it I knew I kind of — I didn’t hit it great — but, yeah, I just was trying to blow on it or something,” Witt said with a chuckle. “The first thing I thought was just no pop... We got to do a couple more curls or something.”
Kansas City have never had a derby winner.
Both finished their two-minute final round with 11 homers, before bonus swings were added. Witt came up short of his first two bonus swings, then hit two homers in a row — one a 457-foot drive that got him one more swing.
Witt was the No. 2 overall pick by the Royals in 2019 out of Colleyville Heritage High School, about 24km north of the Rangers’ stadium. It was his first time in the derby, but he was the high-school home run champion in Washington in 2018 — and is the only player to compete in both contests.
The 24-year-old Witt finished with 50 homers overall that traveled 3.8 miles.
Witt had knocked out Cleveland Guardians switch-hitter Jose Ramirez 17-12 in the semi-finals. Hernandez beat the Philadelphia Phillies’ Alec Bohm 16-15 after a tiebreaker when both got three swings — Hernandez hit two out, and Bohm one.
They were tied at 14 after the three-minute segment and their bonus rounds, and Bohm came close to avoiding that, but the last ball he hit then landed on the warning track in left-center field.
Ramirez and Bohm both hit 21 homers to pace the first round. Witt started with 20 homers and Hernandez had 19.
The New York Mets’ Pete Alonso fell short in his bid to join Ken Griffey Jr as a three-time derby champion when he hit only 12 homers in the first round.
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