Baseball’s most explosive showcase returns tonight as the 2025 T-Mobile Home Run Derby takes center stage at Truist Park in Atlanta. Eight of the best sluggers in baseball will be swinging for the fences in what promises to be a thrilling display.
Format and Rules
If yo care about the rules, there are three rounds to the eight-player Derby: first round, semifinals and finals. Here’s how it works:
First Round: The eight players each have three minutes or 40 pitches (whichever comes first) to hit as many homers as possible. There is also a bonus period for each player that lasts until they record three outs (any swing that doesn’t result in a home run) within the period. If a player hits a home run of at least 425 feet within the bonus period, the period is extended until the player records a fourth out.
Semifinals: The format shifts to “knockout style,” with No. 1 vs. No. 4 and No. 2 vs. No. 3. Players will have two minutes or 27 pitches in the semifinals and finals.
Finals: The two semifinal winners battle it out with the same two-minute, 27-pitch format to determine the champion.
Atlanta’s Derby History
The All-Star Game took place at Atlanta’s Turner Field in 2000. That year’s eight-player Derby field featured five future Hall of Famers: Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, Vladimir Guerrero Sr., Ivan Rodriguez and hometown favorite Chipper Jones. Griffey was going for a three-peat and a fourth Derby title, but he was defeated in the finals by Sammy Sosa, nine homers to two. Sosa crushed 26 dingers during the event.
What to Expect
Last year’s Derby was a home run bonanza. There were 225 homers hit during the 2024 Home Run Derby at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Those dingers traveled a combined distance of 92,590 feet, or roughly 17 1/2 miles. The Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. hit the most home runs among the eight participants (50), but he was bested in the finals by the Dodgers’ Teoscar Hernández, 14-13.
With eight powerful sluggers ready to put on a show in Atlanta, tonight’s Derby promises to deliver the same kind of excitement that makes it one of baseball’s most anticipated events. Will you be watching?
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