New York Mets infielder Pete Alonso won an incredible, unforgettable home run derby last night, facing off against fellow rookie Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
As I watched the home run derby last night between 8 of the leagues best sluggers, I couldn’t help but be in awe of the raw power on display. It was absolutely ridiculous and New York Mets slugger Pete Alonso stood atop the contest, beating out Toronto Blue Jays‘ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the final round.
The eight participants were as follows: Matt Chapman, Guerrero Jr., Alex Bregman, Joc Pederson, Alonso, Carlos Santana, Josh Bell and Ronald Acuna Jr.
The first rounds produced the semifinals of Guerrero Jr., Pederson, Alonso and Acuna Jr. The most exciting round was the Guerrero Jr. vs. Pederson round. Guerrero Jr. smashed the record for home runs in the first round with 29 and then followed it up with another 29.
Pederson then matched him and the round went to basically over time, was still tied! Then there were two 3 swing tiebreaker’s, which saw Guerrero Jr. win the round 40-39. This was obviously the round that gassed him because when Alonso came up to face him in the finals, you could tell it was over.
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Alonso won, hitting 23 home runs to Guerrero Jr.’s 22. By doing so he becomes just the second rookie to win the home run derby outright.
All in all it was an amazing derby filled with drama and believe it or not, a whole lot of home runs, 312 to be exact.
Guerrero Jr. hit a total of 91 homers last night. Think about that, he hit more home runs last night than four Major League teams have hit all season. Alonso hit 57, which itself is a staggering number, if not for his counterpart having so many.
Alonso won by being steady throughout the whole thing, hitting just enough to win, but not tiring himself out as much as the rest of the competitors.
I’ll be honest though, the Guerrero Jr. vs Pederson round should have been the final. The anticipation in Cleveland every time they hit another home run was palpable, even watching on my laptop.
I am a fan of the new format, but I feel like total home runs should count for something and that leads me to who I really feel won the derby.
I also may be voicing an unpopular opinion here, but I feel like the winner of that derby last night was Guerrero Jr., no disrespect to Alonso. He was swinging as hard as he could and his swing reminded us of his dad, Vladimir Guerrero Sr. winning two of his own home run derbies.