ARLINGTON, Texas – In their long history, no Los Angeles Dodgers player has ever won the Home Run Derby.
Teoscar Hernandez changed that Monday night.
The 31-year-old Hernandez defeated Kansas City star Bobby Witt Jr., surviving a wall contact attempt on his last shot from Witt to win the final, 14-13.
Hernandez signed a one-year deal as a free agent with the Dodgers this winter and has proven to be a vital player in a lineup that includes stars Shohei Otani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. A year after his friend and former teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr. won his first Derby title, Hernandez became the seventh Dominican Republic player to win the title.
The new format of the event, which limited the number of courts that participants could watch in each round, initially wasn’t enough to motivate the Globe Life Field crowd of 38,578. Then came the finals, when Witt nearly overcame a frantic start from Hernandez to win the Derby—but lost by perhaps a foot.
Witt, who grew up 20 minutes from Globe Life Stadium, won the High School Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game in Washington, D.C., six years ago, and he looked poised to do it again Monday. In the new format, players could see a maximum of 40 pitches over three minutes, then hit as many home runs as they wanted before giving up three pitches in an extra inning. In the final, the time was cut to two minutes and 27 pitches. Witt finished his inning with 11 pitches.
Hernandez scored twice in overtime, including one from 425 feet that gave him an extra chance. He nearly tied the score on his last shot, but the ball bounced off the fence in midfield, sending Hernandez to the win and the $1 million prize.
Hernandez survived a crucial semifinal showdown with Alec Bohm, the Philadelphia third baseman who hit the most home runs in a single inning with 21 of the 40 pitches he saw in the first inning.
Bohm led with Witt, Hernandez and the Cleveland Guardians’ Jose Ramirez in third. Two-time Derby champion Pete Alonso was knocked out in the first inning with just 12 home runs, as were Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna, Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson and the Texas Rangers’ Adolis Garcia.
In the semifinals, Witt recovered from a slow start to finish with 17 home runs, allowing Ramirez to advance to the finals. He also faltered at the start of his inning, never recovered, and finished with 12 home runs and no home runs with his extra balls.
Before the final moments, the biggest thriller came in the other semifinal, when Hernandez beat Bohm in a decider after they finished their rounds tied 14-14.
Hernandez hit two home runs in the second and third innings. Bohm hit a home run to left in the second but his third landed softly in the outfield grass, sending the 31-year-old, a two-time All-Star Game MVP, into the final — and, ultimately, the home run champion.