KSR's 2023 MLB Home Run Derby Recap

ksr-2023-mlb-home-run-derby-recap — Photo by Tim Nwachukwu | Getty Images

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. joined his Hall of Fame father as a Home Run Derby champion on Monday night. His 25 homers in the final round bested Tampa Bay Rays left fielder Randy Arozarena’s score of 23 home runs.

Guerrero Jr. blasted a total of 73 homers throughout three separate, four-minute rounds. However, the story of the night came from Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman and hometown player Julio Rodriguez.

In his home of T-Mobile Park in Seattle, J-Rod put up a performance that could rival the likes of Josh Hamilton and Ken Griffey Jr. Rodriguez lit the Mariners faithful ablaze with 41 homers in his first-round contest against Rutschman. It seemed as if Rodriguez clobbered every ball, and the Mariners’ crowd continued blowing the (retractable) roof off the park.

J-Rod’s performance followed Rutschman’s first round, who managed to knock 27 home runs out of the park. While this is impressive in its own right, it fails to mention that six of these homers came from the opposite side of the plate.

Yes, the switch-hitting Rutschman switch-hit in the Derby. The former first-overall draft pick seemingly set the tone for the rest of the event by doing something nobody has done. However, the White Sox’s Luis Robert Jr. managed to take down Rutschman’s score by a single home run to move on to the semifinals.

Randy and Vlady put on a show

Randy and Vlady Jr. knocked off stiff competition on their road to the final.

Arozarena took down his good friend and AL competitor Adolis Garcia in the first round as the Texas Ranger and Cuban-born Garcia struggled to find his swing as the Internet began to bash his pitcher for a bad performance. Arozarena then took down the mighty Robert Jr. in his semifinal matchup with a monster score of 35 home runs.

While dominating, Arozerena continued to hit his signature pose, which got a chuckle out of this writer every time.

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How can you not love this guy? pic.twitter.com/pj2y184vkT
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) July 11, 2023

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. toyed with Dodger superstar Mookie Betts, as Mookie struggled with only 11 homers in his three minutes. Vlad then proceeded to finish off the hometown favorite as he bested Julio Rodriguez 21 to 20.

Then, both fan favorites met in the finals — and both were obviously exhausted. However, it was the Blue Jays bomber Vlad Guerrero Jr. who came out on top.

The moment Vladimir Guerrero Jr. won it all. 💙 pic.twitter.com/IFhCUU7JVB
— MLB (@MLB) July 11, 2023

Alonso gets booted in the first round, memes dominate

I’d be silly to exclude that Rodriguez destroyed Pete Alonso in their first-round matchup. The Mets first baseman has annoyed tons of people with his seemingly over-the-top serious nature during the Derby. Famously, Alonso worked out during his 2022 matchup with Ronald Acuna Jr.

Naturally, MLB Twitter began to flame Alonso for acting like the Derby is Game 7 of the World Series. The meme of the night came from KSR favorites Big Cat and PFT with this fireball toward Polar Bear Pete.