2021 MLB Home Run Derby, Monday 7/12, 7 p.m. CT

Here is the bracket for this year’s MLB Home Run Derby:

In the opening round, the top-seeded Shohei Ohtani (33 home runs) will square off against the number eight seed Juan Soto (11 home runs); Joey Gallo (24 home runs) will be the two seed and face the seventh-seeded Trevor Story (11 home runs); Matt Olson (23 home runs), the number three seed, will take on the number six seed Trey Mancini (16 home runs); and the fourth-seeded Salvador Perez (21 home runs) will meet the number five seed Pete Alonso (17 home runs).

Seeding was determined by each participant’s home run total through last Tuesday’s games (although the totals above are current through Sunday). Ties were broken by awarding the higher seed to the player with a higher home run total in 2020, however, since Mancini did not play in 2020, the tie between him and Alonso (15 each through last Tuesday) was broken using 2019 home run totals. Mancini is a great story, recovering from cancer to return to baseball, an easy guy to root for. But then, so is everyone else in this tournament.

The Home Run Derby is a single-elimination bracket. Here are the rest of the rules:

Timing:

• The regulation period of rounds 1 & 2 will be 3:00 minutes per batter.
• The regulation period of the final round will be 2:00 minutes per batter
• The timer starts with release of the first pitch, and a round ends when the timer strikes zero. A home run shall count provided the pitch was released before the timer strikes zero.
• Each batter is allowed to call one 45-second time out in the regulation period of each round (including in the final round). No time outs are permitted in the bonus period.

Bonus Time:

• All batters will be awarded 30 seconds of bonus time following the regulation period of each round.
• A batter will be awarded an additional 30 seconds of bonus time if he hits at least one home run that equals or exceeds 475 feet in the regulation period of that round. If this occurs, the bonus time for the round will be 60 seconds.
• The bonus period – whether it is 30 seconds or 60 seconds – is a single time segment, with no time outs.
• After the regulation period, a batter is allowed a break of up to one minute before his bonus period begins
• During the bonus period, a special T-Mobile magenta ball will be used.

Scoring/Advancement:

• Batter with most home runs hit in each matchup will advance to next round.
• Ties in any round will be broken by a 60-second swing-off with no stoppage of time or additional time added; if a tie remains after the swing-off, batters will engage in successive three-swing swing-offs until there is a winner.
• If the second batter hits more than the first batter in any matchup, he will be declared winner and not attempt to hit additional home runs. If this occurs during the regulation period, the batter will not need the bonus period.

Additional:

• Unlike the baseballs for all other MLB events at Coors Field, the balls used in the T-Mobile Home Run Derby will not be stored in the stadium’s humidor.

Enjoy! Seeing home runs launched out of Coors Field ought to be great fun.