The 2024 House Run Derby is lower than three weeks away and there can be a brand new format this season. Sunday evening Main League Baseball and ESPN introduced a brand new format for the annual lengthy ball affiar, one which replaces head-to-head matchups within the first spherical. Now all eight gamers will compete in opposition to one another within the first spherical, with 4 gamers advancing.
Listed here are the brand new guidelines for this 12 months’s House Run Derby:
First spherical
All eight gamers will hit, and the highest 4 homer totals will advance to the second spherical. Ties are damaged utilizing the longest particular person dwelling run distance. Hitters will get three minutes or 40 pitches, whichever comes first, and one timeout. Every participant then will get three bonus outs. Mainly, after their three minutes or 40 pitches are up, they proceed swinging till they make three extra outs. Gamers can earn a fourth bonus out with a 425-foot homer in bonus time. This implies each hitter who’s behind may have an opportunity to catch up so long as they proceed hitting dwelling runs in bonus time.
Semifinals
The 4 remaining gamers are seeded 1-4 utilizing first spherical dwelling run totals, then it is 1 vs. 4 and a pair of vs. 3 in head-to-head matchups. In any other case, it is the identical guidelines as the primary spherical: three minutes or 40 pitches, one timeout, plus three bonus outs with the chance to earn a fourth.
Finals
The 2 semifinal winners go head-to-head. The finals are solely two minutes or 27 pitches, with one timeout. The identical bonus outs guidelines apply right here as effectively.
The brand new format places a premium on effectivity — you solely get so many pitches now — and likewise forces gamers to hit as many homers as potential within the first spherical moderately than simply hit greater than your head-to-head opponent. Lately gamers have complained the House Run Derby is simply too exhausting and bodily demanding. They’d rush to get as many swings in as potential through the allotted time, and fatigue creates damage threat.
The House Run Derby has undergone many format adjustments through the years, essentially the most important of which was the introduction of a clock in 2015. Final 12 months, the eight gamers had been seeded 1-8 utilizing their season dwelling run totals, then they confronted off in a single-elimination match. Hitters got three minutes within the first two rounds, and two minutes within the remaining spherical. Gamers might additionally earn bonus time primarily based on dwelling run distance.
On Sunday, Gunnar Henderson grew to become the primary participant to decide to the House Run Derby. Shohei Ohtani stated he desires to do it so long as he is cleared medically. MLB dwelling run chief Aaron Choose stated he’ll cross on the House Run Derby once more. He has not participated in it since successful the 2017 House Run Derby. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. received the 2023 House Run Derby in Seattle.
This 12 months’s All-Star Sport occasions can be held at Globe Life Discipline in Arlington, Texas. The House Run Derby is scheduled for Monday, July 15. Section 2 of the All-Star Sport fan voting is now underway. Choose and Bryce Harper earned automated beginning spots within the All-Star Sport in Section 1.