Vladimir Guerrero Jr. becomes first Blue Jay, second Canadian to win MLB Home Run Derby
The Blue Jays star hit 72 home runs across three rounds
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. won the 2023 Major League Baseball Home Run Derby at T-Mobile Park in Seattle on Monday night, hitting 72 home runs across three rounds — including a final round record 25 — as he became the first Toronto Blue Jays player to win the fan-favourite event.
Guerrero Jr. is the second Canadian to win the Derby after Justin Morneau did it in 2008 at Yankee Stadium, the year after Vladimir Guerrero Sr. won the competition in 2007 in San Francisco. With the younger Guerrero’s victory on Monday, they become the only father-son duo in MLB history to both win a Home Run Derby.
Each round was three minutes long, with every batter also getting 30 seconds of extra time to hit, which could be extended to a full minute if they hit two or more home runs over 440 feet. Each participant could pick who threw the pitches to them, with Guerrero Jr. enlisting the help of Blue Jays manager John Schneider, who also pitched to him in 2019.
In the first round, Guerrero Jr. was matched up against Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts. After the Blue Jays slugger hit 26 home runs, Betts — who is on pace for the best home run tally of his career this season — never really got going and only managed eleven home runs.
After hitting a pair of long home runs to earn himself the full extra minute of bonus time to hit, Guerrero Jr. added nine more to the 17 he hit in the initial three minutes, comfortably moving into the semifinal.
The second round presented a bigger challenge as he was paired with Mariners star Julio Rodríguez, hitting in his home ballpark with overwhelming fan support from the capacity crowd at T-Mobile Park. In the first round, Rodríguez beat Guerrero Jr’s single-round home run record set in 2019 by sweeping aside two-time derby champion Pete Alonso with a remarkable 41 homers (Vladdy’s previous record was 40).
Rodríguez cooled off in the second round, however, hitting 16 in his three-minute window before adding four more in bonus time. After nearly matching that straight away, Guerrero Jr. would only need a few seconds of his bonus time to knock out the hometown favourite.
After Tampa Bay Rays star Randy Arozarena defeated fellow Cuban outfielder (and close friend) Adolis García in the first round, he comfortably beat another compatriot — Chicago White Sox outfielder Luis Robert Jr. — in the semifinal, winning 35-22 and setting up an all-AL East final.
Guerrero Jr. went first in the final, hitting 20 home runs in the shorter two-minute regulation period. Two of them went 445 feet, giving him a full minute of bonus time, where he hit five more for a final round-record 25 homers. Arozarena started slow but picked up as regular time ran out, giving himself a chance to win it with his bonus 30 seconds, but he would finish with a tally of 23.
Arozarena put on a show, finishing with a final tally of 82 total home runs across the three rounds, nine back of the record 91 that his final opponent Guerrero Jr. hit in 2019. The Jays star finished ten back with 72, good for the fifth-highest tally ever, but spread them out well across the entire competition.
Vladdy’s 163 combined home runs across his two times competing puts him second in all-time Derby home runs, behind two-time champion and four-time competitor Pete Alonso, who has hit 195 including his 21 on Monday.
There was some criticism on social media toward Major League Baseball for the lack of the Canadian national anthem during the pregame festivities, and it was quickly pointed out by the Blue Jays after Guerrero’s triumph that a Canadian-born player on a Canadian team then went on to win it all.
Guerrero Jr. is one of five Blue Jays players on the American League roster for Tuesday’s All Star-Game — joined by shortstop Bo Bichette, second baseman Whit Merrifield, and pitchers Kevin Gausman and Jordan Romano.
Along with Romano (Markham, ON) and Guerrero Jr. (Montreal, QC), Canadian Freddie Freeman will also be part of the All-Star Game, starting at first base for the National League team.