TORONTO — Kyle Schwarber didn’t immediately commit to participating in the Home Run Derby. He gave it some thought, and, after he was voted into the All-Star Game, began to hear from his teammates. They kept asking him if he’d enter, and, finally, he announced that he would Tuesday on his Instagram.
The Home Run Derby field will be stacked — Pete Alonso, Juan Soto, Ronald Acuña Jr., and Albert Pujols will be participating — but Schwarber is no underdog. He ranks second in baseball and first in the National League in home runs, with 28. His manager, Rob Thomson, joked before Tuesday’s game that Schwarber puts on a home run derby every day, so whatever he does next Monday will be no different.
The last time Schwarber participated in a Home Run Derby was in 2018, when he fell just short of a title after his current teammate, Bryce Harper, hit nine home runs in a minute to tie Schwarber and walked it off during his 30-second bonus round. Schwarber said he learned a lot from that experience — mainly to pace himself.
