The 2026 Major League Baseball Home Run Derby gets underway Monday at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. The event is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET, and it can be viewed and/or streamed on Netflix.
The weather forecast calls for temperatures in the low 80’s at time of first pitch, with winds blowing from 8-11 mph from the south-southwest, which means there will be a breeze blowing from left field to right field, providing neutral to slightly positive winds blowing out.
Last season in Atlanta, Seattle Mariners C Cal Raleigh put on a show, edging out Tampa Bay Rays 3B Junior Caminero for the title.
Raleigh won’t be back to defend his crown, but Caminero is back trying to clean up some unfinished business. He’ll have to contend with not one, but two Philadelphia Phillies sluggers. The leading home run hitter in the majors, DH Kyle Schwarber (32 homers), and 1B Bryce Harper, represent the host organization.
Harper is the only player in the 8-man field to have hoisted the home run derby trophy previously. He is also the most recent player to win in his home park, taking home the title at National Park in 2018 as a member of the Washington Nationals.
While the American League won the title in 2025, thanks to Raleigh, the National League has dominated the festivities, posting wins in seven of the past 10 events since 2015 in Cincinnati.
In 2026, the Home Run Derby has some notable rule changes. There is no timer, and there will be no outs. Instead, it’s a swing-based format, with players getting a total of 20 swings in Round 1, and 15 swings in Round 2. In addition, each player will get 15 swings in the Final Round, too. However, there is what is being called a “continuity clause”, which means that if a player homers on his final allotted swing of a designated round, he keeps hitting until he fails to leave the yard.
In Round 1, all eight players will be in a single pool, and the top four totals will advance to the semifinals. There, the players will be seeded based upon their Round 1 totals. If there is a tie in Round 1, the tiebreaker will be based on home run distance. If there is a tie in Round 2, or the Final Round, there will be a three-swing “swing-off”.
2026 Home Run Derby Winning Pick (odds courtesy of DraftKings)
We’re backing Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber (+310) to get the job done. While it’s not necessarily sexy to pick the favorite, backing Schwarber can still help you nearly multiply up your initial wager by more than three times.
Schwarber leads the majors with 32 home runs, and he has 19 of those homers in just 163 at-bats in his home park. He has 13 home runs on the road in 182 at-bats. He knows Citizen Bank Park well, and he’ll use that to his advantage to become the first winner representing the home team since 2018.
In addition to Schwarber straight up, Tampa Bay’s Caminero (-160) is a good bet to at least qualify for the semifinals. He was the runner-up last season to Raleigh. While the rule changes will help pump the brakes a bit on the previous frenzied pace, Caminero knows how to go yard under pressure, and he has an axe to grind after getting edged out for the title in Atlanta.
