Washington Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper owns the best odds to win the 2018 Home Run Derby at 11-5, per SportsBook. Following him are Chicago Cubs slugger Kyle Schwarber (4-1), the Milwaukee Brewers’ Jesus Aguilar (5-1) and Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Max Muncy (6-1).
Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman places fifth with 13-2 odds, while the Cubs’ Javier Baez (7-1), Philadelphia Phillies left fielder Rhys Hoskins (8-1) and Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman (12-1) round out the bottom-three.
Holding the No. 3 seed in the Home Run Derby, Muncy has 20-27 odds to defeat No. 6 seed Baez in their first-round matchup. As the underdog, Baez holds 23-20 odds to advance past Muncy.
Muncy or Baez will face the winner of the Harper-Freeman matchup. With the No. 2 seed in the tournament, Harper is favored heavily to eliminate Freeman.
Muncy heads into the Home Run Derby with a career-high 22 home runs this season. Muncy last homered on Friday in the opener of the three-game Freeway Series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and accounted for two of the Dodgers’ three RBI in the contest.
Baez, who enters with 19 home runs on the year, hit his most recent on Saturday against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Aguilar leads all participants with 24 homers, one more than home crowd favorite Harper.
Each batter will receive four minutes per round in the single-elimination tournament. The time begins with the release of a pitch, and a new pitch can’t be thrown until a batted ball hits the ground, gets caught or leaves the field of play.
Batters can earn 30 seconds of bonus time for two home runs each that travel at least 440 feet. Bonus time will be awarded at the end of the initial four-minute period.
Each batter has one 45-second timeout in the first round and semifinals. Batters are entitled to two timeouts in the final round — a 45-second timeout, then a 30-second timeout.
Ties will be broken with a swing-off that lasts 60 seconds and does not include stoppage time or the possibility of additional time added. Should a tie remain, batters will take part in successive three-swing swing-offs.
The 2018 Home Run Derby is set for Monday, July 16, at Nationals Park. ESPN will exclusively televise the event, beginning at 5 p.m. PT. It will also be available on ESPN2 for a Spanish-language simulcast and to be streamed via the ESPN app.
The complete 2018 Home Run Derby bracket can be viewed here.
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