The 2026 Home Run Derby takes place tonight at 7pm Central as part of the 2026 All-Star festivities in Philadelphia. The field of eight consists of…
This year’s format will be notably different than in recent years, as laid out by MLB.com. The timer format has been replaced by a swing-based system. The opposite switch occurred in 2015. Participants will have 20 swings in the first round, then 15 in the following rounds. If a player homers on his final swing, he can keep going until a swing doesn’t result in a home run.
The first round will be an open field, with the top four home run totals moving on. Then the semifinals and finals will feature head-to-head matchups. Seeding for the semifinals will be determined based on the first round. Seed one will face seed four and seed two will face seed three. A tie in the first round will be broken by longest home run distance. In the final two rounds, a tie will be broken by a three-swing swing-off, repeating until the tie is broken.
Schwarber and Harper are representing the hometown Phillies. Both have lengthy track records as big power bats in the majors. Schwarber has 372 homers compared to Harper’s 383. This will be the third derby for each of them, Schwarber’s second with Philadelphia and Harper’s first. In 2018, Schwarber and Harper faced off in the finals, while Schwarber was a Cub and Harper a National. Harper emerged victorious that year, taking the final round 19-18.
Caminero is just 23 years old but he’s the only other guy in this year’s field with previous derby experience. He participated last year and made it to the finals, but Cal Raleigh beat him 18-15. He has 73 regular season home runs since the start of last year, trailing only Schwarber and Shohei Ohtani.
The other five participants are first-timers. Contreras has 192 home runs in his 11 big league seasons. Murakami is in his first season in MLB since leaving Japan. A hamstring strain limited him to 60 games before the Break but he still managed to launch 20 home runs. Caglianone had an underwhelming rookie season in 2025 but has launched 15 homers this year. Rice broke out with 26 homers last year and has already added another 29 this year. Walker has 22 this year in his breakout season.
According to Daniel Chavkin of The Sporting News, $2.5MM in prize money will be given out. The winner gets $1MM and the runner-up $500K. The other participants each get $150K and there’s a $100K bonus for the longest home run. Half of the players involved today (Caglianone, Caminero, Rice, Walker) haven’t yet qualified for arbitration are are making salaries around the $780K league minimum, so they have a chance to make more than their annual salary in one night’s work.
Who do you think will emerge victorious? Have your say in the poll below…
Who will win the 2026 Home Run Derby?
Photo courtesy of Sam Greene, Imagn Images
