2019 FULL Home Run Derby | Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Pete Alonso have ALL-TIME performances

30 years ago hollywood movie magic the wild thing and a healthy dose of bob euchre in the booth brought baseball excitement to cleveland and millions of others and tonight we don't have a script but we got a fantastic field of young slugging superstars and a hometown hero poised to give this city on lake erie an evening to remember we welcome you all to the 2019 t-mobile home run derby first pitch seconds away time now for introductions and our cleveland indian pa announcer bob tayak baseball fans welcome to cleveland ohio and the 2019 t-mobile home run derby and we are just moments away from getting this show started providing the soundtrack for the night give it up for dj ire a million [Music] and now it's time to meet the hitters in the 2019 t-mobile home run derby [Music] in our first matchup the 5c he reached the finals of the home run derby in his rookie season and has 20 home runs at the all-star break from the los angeles dodgers john peterson [Music] and his opponent the 4c with 23 home runs at the break he was the most valuable player in last year's all-star game from the houston astros alex brickman [Music] and in our next match up the hc he's a rookie sensation from the toronto blue jays looking to add another home run derby championship to the family vladimir guerrero jr [Music] [Music] his opponent the number one seed in his first home run derby neoplanet's slugging third baseman with 21 home runs in the first half of the season matt chapman [Music] the 6c he was the 2018 national league rookie of the year and has 21 home runs at the all-star break from the atlanta braves ronaldo and his opponent the 3c his home run of 473 feet the longest among this year's derby field the power hitting first baseman from the pittsburgh pirates john [Music] and our last matchup okay cleveland let's hear it the seven seed the hometown slugger with 19 home runs at the all-star break from new york cleveland indians carlos [Applause] [Music] [Applause] his opponent the 2c leading the major leagues and home runs of over 400 feet new york mets rookie with 30 home runs at the break the polar bear pete alonso [Music] [Music] and there they are the eight sluggers of the 2019 t-mobile home run derby [Music] [Music] ladies and gentlemen at this time please stand remove your hats and welcome retired cleveland police sergeant kennedy jones as we honor america with the performance of our national anthem oh say can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly we held at the twilight's the last gleaming whose bright stripes and bright stars through the perilous fights or the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming and the rockets recklessly the bombs bursting in air gave roof through the night that our flag was still there oh say does that star spangled banner yet away [Music] break [Music] [Applause] and thank you sergeant kennedy jones for tonight's performance of the national anthem and thank you to the f-16s from the stingers of the 112th fighter squadron of the ohio air national guard what a way to get it started coming up the first two matchups first a pair of derby veterans alex bregman back in the derby for the second year in a row upset he didn't win it the first time against jack peterson back for the first time since 2015 and then an american league all-star and a future superstar matt chapman replacing the one seed against the guy everyone's been waiting to see vladimir guerrero jr of the blue jays here we go mobile and major league baseball please welcome the little leaguers from talmadge ohio and joining them on the field indian shortstop francisco lindor and in support of little league baseball and softball t-mobile is donating 250 000 to little league to help grow participation around the country and make little leagues more accessible and affordable to players and their families plus tonight's home run derby participants will be swinging for more than the trophy for every home run hit t-mobile will donate up to five thousand dollars more in support of the cause from little league to the big leagues t-mobile has you covered what a tremendous gesture by t-mobile as we grow the game and we know we have a lot of eyeballs young and old watching tonight's t-mobile home run derby welcome everyone so delighted to be alongside mark teshera buster only and jess mendoza will join us shortly look this is big business here with some money on the line and you can tell the intensity of some of these guys yeah the game has definitely changed when it comes to home run derby this is no longer an exhibition this is no longer kind of a novel thing that guys do after batting practice on the workout day this is big business and you see guys taking batting practice during the season to try to hit home runs to actually practice for the home run derby look at vlad junior here listen to vlad listen to these balls by the way i mean to hit for four straight minutes to try to hit balls 440 feet this is not a natural thing but it has become much more normal in 2019 because there's a million dollars on the line and home runs are everywhere in major league baseball so he hits the ball hard we've heard all about the exit velocity and if you have the exit velocity of some of these players they tend to move into final rounds this guy who's joining us now on the set is one of those guys whose exit velocity is amongst the best in major league baseball off of one of the great first halfs in major league baseball history for rookie the polar bear pete alonso joins us you good with polar bear absolutely you love polar bear yeah what do you make of the whole night so far in the whole event i mean everything has just been so wonderful i'm just really blessed to be here oh just going to make sure that's right i mean i'm just enjoying my first time i'm trying to open my eyes and kind of pinch myself a little bit and because to me this is surreal well you're been surreal this first half pete's going to hang with us we'll fix that chord around the neck marley rivera also here with us helping out because some of the players here are from different countries than the united states so she's going to bring us some insight on that marley and right here look who's here vladimir guerrero jr whose father took part in the home run derby in 2007 and he is the youngest player to be in the home run derby vladi what does it mean to you this environment and this moment [Music] and it's just very special especially with players that he tends to see on television and the best part is that he got a little facetime call with who who was facetiming you bloody uh none other than albert pujol so let's see uh let's see if buster was talking to albert pujols too marley earlier today matt chapman bumped into christian yelling he said to him i got big shoes to fill you get the text on sunday morning you're stepping in for christian yelich in the derby what was it like to call your dad jim tell him he's going to pitch to you it was a dream come true i mean something that we talked about doing you know almost as a joke when we would watch the home run derby like how cool would that be to do that i mean at that time we didn't even know if i'd ever make it to the major leagues and now to be able to be here and doing this with my dad it's you know never forget it jim how meaningful is this for you i'm sorry what how meaningful is it for you oh my gosh it's a dream like matt said it's a dream come true uh we we thought about this moment if it ever happened i'm honored that he asked me to throw to him it's been a while we practiced a little bit today uh so we feel good but it's just the whole day has been a dream come true having a blast awesome have fun thank you carl back to you what a treat i mean what a treat just imagine for those of you that are sitting at home with your son or daughter and you're just discussing the possibility of being in a home run derby it came true for matt and jim chapman this is it's got to be a little nerve-wracking as much as it is an incredible incredible night well yeah when you go into a home run derby you've been used to playing in front of 50 000 people you've been used to playing in front of your great fans that are cheering for you or against you but you're not used to it on this type of stage in front of so many people without a cage and without fielders out there single elimination so peterson and bregman will lead things off guerrero and chapman on the left side then on the right side you've got ronald aquino jr of the braves josh bell of the pirates carlos santana will take on pete alonso everybody's got four minutes they got a timeout and we're trying to see if you can get some extra time by hitting a ball over 440 feet this is a really interesting first round match-up when you're looking at jack peterson and alex bregman these are the two guys that have experience in the derby i think that counts for something they do have experience and they've both done well too it's not like these guys are coming back to to try to redeem themselves they've all done very well in the derby and jack peterson is out for a win this year doc's father stew played eight games with the dodgers organization and this was the guy that was celebrating with his younger brother champ 2015. he went toe to toe with todd frazier i mean toe to toe we all remember the great comeback that todd frazier was forced into it's because peterson forced him into it todd frazier won it in cincinnati ohio in fact a pair of brothers that are on hand champ peterson jock's brother and all the petersons representing tonight cannot wait to get this thing started feels like he he ran into a buzzsaw in frazier and here's his next chance to win his first derby give you some of the rules so it's a four minute timed it back next pitch cannot be thrown until the previous one lands one timeout for it bat in the first and semis two timeouts in the finals 30 seconds if two balls go 440 feet or further one minute at bats no clock stoppage and a tiebreaker and if we're still tied i'd love to see a swing off i mean i think that would be tremendous it'd be a lot of fun because we've gotten used to these four minutes but we haven't seen a true three pitch swing off as a sudden death tiebreaker here the guy throwing the ball to him is dino evil and evil has done this before threw it to albert pujols through to vlad guerrero senior and when i played for the angels dino evil is our third base coach he threw me batting practice one of the most true balls when i talk about a true ball wherever he wants to put it jack peterson's saying get that ball inside i want to pull watch evil hit that over and over again and you're kind of getting into a little bit of a groove here we've had some practice and you're watching peterson now launch a couple and that one also crawls over the wall as pete alonso is watching us are you feeling an advantage for lefties you've heard about it in this ballpark versus a guy like you as a writer um honestly i just want to hit the ball hard i feel like uh with these big league balls i feel like they're gonna be a little juice today especially for the derby um and i feel like if you just put barrel on it good barrel on and they're gonna fly no matter what the conditions and uh to either to any part of the park yeah any any part of the park and it looks like now the wind's starting to die down a little bit and i feel like all fields are in play today first round average about 13 homers over this time derby and right now jack friederson almost looks a little tired he's trying he's trying to get into a rhythm he's not lifting the ball which is something that jack peterson's really good at his natural swing is to lift it and he just needs to slow down a little bit and get back to his natural swing pass you can see that graphic up there with the star two four right here foot homers would give you a 30-second bonus he's got one clicked off there you go and people i'm interested a guy like you how many swings do you think it's going to take for you to get into that rhythm because it's taking jock a little bit over a minute here but now he looks like he's launching balls well the biggest uh biggest advice i got from i'm really blessed because uh i have robbie cannell and uh and todd frazier two home run derby champions so i got a really good uh veteran committee of champions and also chilly davis is our uh was uh the hitting coach with the a's when cesspit has won so i had a really good group and um they just said that you've got more time than you think relax and if you don't get a homer pitch don't swing because you you have way more time than you really than you really think you do um especially todd he says if you have like maybe like a minute left or something like that and you're down maybe five all it takes is a little run to get in a groove and then you're right back in it or uh ahead have you competed in derbys before i have um i think the only one that i've competed against was against jose canseco in the 2014 northwoods league northwoods collegiate summer league of course and you beat him i didn't personally so i'll tell you the story so me and joe dudek he was the first baseman for unc at the time uh me and him competed against jose and and um so all of us competed in the in the old format 10 10 outs yeah and i had five joe hit six and jose hit one and then but jose moved on but jose moved on because yeah he had to move on and then um and then joe put on an absolute show and and took him down in the last round and yeah it was awesome talk about a show i mean jack's not even hitting these balls and he's he's on a little bit of a roll now he does need to get one over 440 or two over 440 to get that bonus here he's got one of those that one won't get there but he's starting to elevate that ball you mentioned to right field he's got nine now peterson in the first round and 15 had 13. then he had 12 in the semis he's going to be at that number again with about 20 to go there's that groove right there [Applause] you both have been in that groove what's that feel like sweetness there's nothing better there's nothing better when you're in home runs i tell people the hardest thing to do in baseball is to hit a home run whenever you connect whether it's in batting practice or a game it still feels good the sound of the bat the feeling off of that ball right there the feeling of the hands when that ball connects pete there's nothing better well actually the best feeling is when you don't feel the ball hit the bat at all it's just it's just this sweet feeling it's you don't even feel it and it's just a nice smooth swing and you just kind of feel you just feel the bat flow through the zone and then that's it that's when you know you really got it boys he's hitting him 429 431 he's got 30 seconds left he's got a bunch of home runs here 14. the boy he's again an extra 30 by going okay that's going to be really close 452. he gets it there you go and look at the numbers mark he's got 15 already yeah and it's one of these things that don't panic like you said don't panic when you have five or six after the first two minutes because all it takes is a run and all of these guys whether it's jack peterson or alex bregman when they get on a run they can hit a lot of home runs very impressive opening round for a petersburg so he's got a 30-second bonus coming up and he's sitting on 17. big comeback after the t.o [Applause] see brother champ there for jack peterson he by the way wanted johnny washington to throw him pitches tonight johnny now works for the padres as a current hitting coach and as jack peterson said that didn't go over too well so he's got dino ebel throwing pitches to him tonight he's part of a dodger team that's got three guys with over 20 homers and boy he's sitting on 17 with 30 more seconds and you got to feel really good about this the magic number in the first round is 13 or 14. if you can get over that number you feel really good about your chances and jock as we talked about once he got to that groove the ball started flying that's going to go [Applause] doc peterson now with 18 home runs that's going to go he just gets the ball in the air so easily again he doesn't have to try to hit the ball in the air he doesn't have to try to hit home runs his natural swing takes the ball out oh absolutely playing against him he just gets the balls it's effortless hammered that's pretty hammered and for all the fans the second deck here in cleveland is an absolute bomb if you see a lefty get to the second back deck you know he got one jock and the crowd and the players all standing here on the first baseline 21 the most in this format in the first round had been stanton with 16 peak that's some bold that's an unbelievable number yeah that's that's the way to start off the derby that's starting it off right for sure well the two guys on this desk look at you and jack peterson as the two guys to beat and jock did not disappoint you look at that slow motion swing he's actually pointing towards left field when he starts out he know he wants he knows he wants to get that ball in the air get that ball to the pool side he had dino evil the entire round throw the ball middle in and he just stays on his backside spins and the ball goes forever incredible numbers for peterson i misspoke stanton had 24 in 2016. he's got 21. and uh yeah there's a there's an early example of the power to right field a great start to the derby the ball is flying tonight you've got great conditions that's what i took from that yeah yeah ball's gonna ball's gonna be in play everywhere it looks like last thought before you get in there and you go start to perform in this trip what's like the last thought for the polar bear just got to go in with the killer mentality you know i mean at the end of the day we're trying to compete and win this thing so i mean it's all about putting on the show but also every single one of us guys is trying to win this thing you know so we're going to try and do it go get them thank you absolutely thank you guys for having me on great to have you to start the show jess mendoza's here with us as well jess hey guys all right i got a bunch of astros with me because they're boy alex breckman he's throwing stuff are you throwing what are you trying to check the wind checking the from left i'm checking the win i don't i don't like that you have to go that way all right what advice did you give your boy backspin to left that's it don't don't don't get cute backspin extreme and left it's like 325 down there and the foul line yeah okay so p pitcher advice i got we got we got a few pictures here like do you guys you guys jump in on the advice at all like telling what do you tell bregman just stay right here like right like where the wall comes in you got the big wall there's a big wall in left okay come on you think about breckman last year right we talked to you guys we talked to you guys last year schwarber kicked them out in the first round we know how alex is right i mean competitive is that a big part of why he came back this year uh a hundred percent yeah he had a million bucks his dad was his dad was telling me he goes he goes his mom because he gives his mom the car this year so i'm getting a million bucks and let you get the car last year i'm getting a million bucks this year you got it for the mvp of the car do you think those guys have fun those astros have so much fun and a guy like bregman they kid around he does need to hit everything to left field i mean even left center you got to kind of take it out of play a little bit because unlike a guy like jack peterson alex bregman's got a very level swing he has to backspin the ball he needs the ball up in the zone he's one of the best pure hitters in baseball and his level swing is great for a 95 mile an hour fastball it's not necessarily great for the derby so he needs a little bit of help get that ball down the line that's where they want him to hit it just a little bit higher he's sitting here at four remember the start that jock got off to then he called timeout with about two minutes and 11 seconds to go and he exploded javier bracamonte is throwing the ball to bregman that's the bullpen catcher and the bp pitcher bracamonte was the guy who last year during the all-star game retrieved bregman's ball that he hit in the 10th inning he was of course the mvp of the all-star game he is a world series winner in 2017 and he desperately wants this as he calls timeout with two minutes and 30 seconds still to go so we'll take a quick 30 second timeout he's sitting on six peterson's got 21. tonight t-mobile's donating money to little league international based on home runs hit for every regular home run one thousand donated and for every magenta bonus ball home run 5 000 will be donated this in addition to the 250 000 we've already seen committed so a big connection between t-mobile major league baseball and little league baseball as bregman sends one sky-high and remember bregman and peterson are the only two guys this entire field with experience so bregman knows what he's doing out there it's not like he's not prepared for for this derby here he knows he's got to hit the ball down the left field line and in houston his home ballpark he's got a short left field porch with a high wall he knows bp what exactly swing will get the results for home runs and batting problems he's also seeing jess there's no crawford boxers out there what he just said it's a low wall that we're used to [Applause] all right what did he tell you guys uh his exact words were i need to get hot i was a little jumpy my first few swings but i got to go right down this line all right so alex's personalities he got it in him i mean this is a big deficit right now he's got it in him uh he's a competitor man he competes so he's getting hot he's got to go because he has to hit about 15 more to get to petersburg he's getting he has to go here we go challenge for bregman's gonna be that 440 foot home run that's that's an extra 30 and he needs it his longest one is 417 right now and that's the one achilles heel for briggs in this tournament is that he doesn't hit the ball 440 feet very often he's gonna have to get a nice little favorable wind gust to get him out there this is a guy who says i want to be the lebron james of baseball he's all over social media he's extremely confident he thinks that cameras should be everywhere he literally thinks baseball players should be exposed in every way in a positive light but he wants him everywhere he is great for the game he's got his own youtube channel he's one of those guys that just exudes confidence he plays with a huge chip on his shoulder we love watching him in the field as well unselfish player he moved over to shortstop which is natural position when carlos correa got hurt this is one of those guys if i'm building a team i want alex bregman to be right in the middle of my lineup he's a special player he went to albuquerque academy and when he was there he was known as the athlete this was the school in which his peers said you got to have a backup plan in case the whole athlete and sport baseball thing doesn't work out his response there is no backup plan this is what we are doing and he and the rest of his support got him to major league baseball and he's one of the best players but he's going to be exit stage left here with 15. he had 16 home runs and he's going home that just shows how impressive jack peterson's first round was the alex brandon has nothing to be ashamed of do not hang your head breaks because 16 home runs is impressive we look at that level swing i mean if i'm going to teach my kids how to swing in 2019 in major league baseball with guys throwing 100 miles an hour and changing speeds it's a simple approach he doesn't use a big leg kick he lets the pitcher provide the power he just drops ahead of that bat on it and again maybe not the best swing for a derby but for 162 regular season games i want to make that swing a carbon copy every single night 15 home runs in the first round last year 16 in this one you saw the average distance was 387 feet and we're not going to paint a broad rush over it but you saw what a power hitting left-hander can do versus a power hitting and bregman right-hander can do here and there's a challenge there and he is just gassed right now he's got and it's a beautiful night it's not 100 degrees out here it's actually a lovely evening to be out there you know kind of watching it but when you're swinging the bat you do get hot you do get tired and you see breggs is exhausted right now all right so our next matchup now that we've seen jack peterson move on features vlad guerrero jr and matt chapman who of course took the place of christian yellow she's out with a bad back there is vlad guerrero jr you know the name because most people that know baseball know the dad he attended the 2004 home run derby with his father in houston in 2007 in san francisco by guerrero senior one he had 17 homers but boy back then 2004 guerrero had a badness hand and he was destined for this dad could hit any pitch whether it was over his head or literally beneath his toes and it bounced hand-eye coordination like no one else to talk about how the game has changed over the last 10 years when vlad senior won in 2007 he won three to two in the final round right we just saw 20 and 16. 21 and 16 in the first round that's just impressive 20 years 114 days he's a baby and 440 should not be a problem for vlad guerrero that might have hit the scoreboard in left field i mean you're going to see some amazing things tonight but this guy if i could watch one player hit batting practice for the next 15 years at 20 years old i'm gonna watch this guy for a long time he's just rolling along he's already got one at 440 and he may have just hit his second one that was 476. this is insane [Music] and here's a guy who he's learning on the fly here yeah i mean his dad was a big leaguer but he just got called up two months ago he's going through the a lease which is not easy for any young player and he is embracing the spotlight shining on a big picture look at this ball this ball is going to hit the scoreboard watch oh my god and he's hitting moon shots here's a line drive doesn't get out but boy you can see the power in this kid and what he's meant to toronto when they called him up as he calls timeout we'll call a timeout as well 248 he's sitting there with seven lad guerrero junior they opened up the ballpark early so people could come in and watch him take batting practice he hit a ball to the fifth deck broke a window pane then he hit another one of the fifth deck went off a railing and talked someone in the nose he's hitting baseballs people don't see baseballs going yeah i want the fans to notice his timing mechanism is a toe tap you see a lot of guys with a big leg kick to try to generate power he doesn't need that big leg to generate the power goodness he uses lightning quick hands he keeps his hands high and he stands up tall but he drops the head of the bat and uses the most incredible bat speed you'll see from a big guy that's how he gets his timing that's how he gets the back spin and the ball goes 480 feet now see there's a ball that will stay up in the air for a while and as that one is going the next one comes in this is sort of a chance for people that don't see this kid very often and remember he didn't break camp with the team like alonso did because he was he was hurt this is the coming out party for vlad guerrero jr look at that moonshot it is and there's a there's a lot of guys in baseball when you talk about who's the most exciting young prospect and you're going to talk about different players can do different things but from a pure power perspective this guy might be the number one power prospect that we've seen coming up as a 20 year old in a long time like uh like father like son no not really vlad senior last senior the most home runs by round five nine and three he's got 19. i mean he's about to hit 20. and he's got a long way to go he's got a buck 15 left and he still has his 30-second bonus he doesn't you know what he doesn't appear tired no well he's a big guy and again he practiced this if anyone's in shape and ready for this event it's vlad jr first career home run came on may 8th batted fifth the first game he played and then the next night charlie montoya stuck him in the cleanup spot no pressure kid hey what's matt chapman thinking right now he's like i just got the call from days ago that i'm in the derby i'm all excited i'm the number one seed i'm playing the eight seed i gotta like my chances and then vlad junior comes up here moon shots 470 feet he's got 21 already and look there were some people who were critical of vlad guerrero jr getting into this thing there's there's money involved he's got eight homers and you understand there's other aspects to this whole thing i'm not one of those guys criticizing this again i want to watch this guy play this is an exhibition of the greatest home run hitters in our game and when you look at home run derby and you look at batting practice this guy's got to be in the top eight i never thought that the josh hamilton 28 would be in jeopardy this guy's going to have 30 seconds after this last pitch here and that's gone so he's going to have 20 he's going to need five homers to get 29. easily done absolutely i mean this guy is going to do something special in his career you know he's going to be a great player but look at the crowd the crowd we asked mike trout on sportscenter when he's going to do a home run derby if he's watching vlad guerrero jr he may not do one of these as long as that guy's doing them boy there is just compact power in the vlad guerrero swing and wave it pudge fist like he needs the help way to be fair polar bear is one of those guys that's going to be aiming for that scoreboard as well i mean 476 feet a long way that's vlad junior's longest home run i'm wondering if we can see 500 tonight i hear you boy matt chapman jim chapman look there they went in with the attitude of dream come true i i think that's the way you go through this see where you end up but boy you're you're dealing with a guy that's absolutely on fire and let's give batting practice pitcher a lot of credit in this derby they know exactly where they want oh to be thrown he might be getting to 28. here we go we could be watching history tonight in cleveland boys and girls oh my goodness scoreboard watching 28. next one breaks a record that's got a chance there's the record 29. [Music] 30. did that one get over at the end did he get two vladimir guerrero we got 28 on the board which would tie josh hamilton for most in a round and now it's 29 he breaks the home run derby record for home runs in a round with i never thought we'd see it you know what because of the time i'm not necessarily surprised when you break down everybody's swing and you break down the amount of power that this guy generates he can hit consistent home runs anywhere in the ballpark but he got into a groove these up and in pitches give the batting practice pitcher a lot of credit and he was hitting the ball to straight away left field just over and over again hitting the ball out front getting it up so he didn't have to lift it at all a perfect round oh my gosh how about the two starts tonight from peterson with 21 and guerrero 29 watch the balls fly out to left man they were going 476 feet we got some magenta bonus balls 29 out of the 48 marley rivera with him well first of all i just told john over here did you know that was a new record i do now 29 that's uh five more than we had in practice that's unbelievable you told me this could happen and here's the man bloody como paso esto how did this happen how special is this for you quan especially momento vladi's pretty tired he's saying i had 29 and here's ronaldo cunha jr the other really young play there we go but he wanted 30 but he got 29 [Music] there we go he's looking for the next round for 30. let's hear from robbie oh my goodness i mean the idea that you set a bar at 30. he looks at that as a realistic goal that's impressive and you know these guys grew up in high school and and through the minor leagues trying to hit home runs in batting practice and so when they get to the big leagues they know that home runs are a huge part of the game they've been hitting these tanks in bp for a long time all right so we got chapman with his dad on the mound let's do a little history for the fathers and sons that have competed in this event robinson canoe he was the winner in 2011 with that jose fishing and of course last year bryce harper he was yelling at his dad to start proving some pitches and he did and he ended up being the 2018 champ with his dad ron who gave the trophy to at the end and now tonight with a very imposing number jim and matt chapman here on progressive field try to match the 29 home runs that vlad guerrero jr just hit that's a good start and that one is hammered chapman having a huge year by the way 21 homers already and a career high of 24. and not wasting any time and there's got to be just a great feeling for him his first all-star game in three seasons known as a glove guy one of the best fielding players at any position in major league baseball he just hit one center field here too you don't see a lot of guys trying to go deep to center but matt chapman has turned himself into a power hitter in today's day and age all you need to make is small adjustments and he made him this off season to get the ball in the air a little bit easier and is now hitting balls all over the ballpark and home runs left and right bonus not a problem we've got a couple over 440 there's one at 473. so for the guy that just hit 29 who's watching i think chapman's going to put up a big number but boy you have a guy that isn't used to throwing bp and somebody who found out you know within the last 24 hours he was even in this thing yeah well matt chapman's one of those guys that it doesn't look like he's swinging that hard until contact he doesn't have a lot of lower body movement he's got a very simple approach but his hands are very quick and at contact he's created a lot of torque and a lot of velocity coming off the bat he consistently hits the ball as hard as anybody in baseball 33 players to fit a ball 115 miles an hour or harder chapman is one of them and the only three that are in the field tonight alonso and josh bell now obviously guerrero is going to end up doing that at some point but he's one of them and he has generally hit most of his home runs to center or right field 28 of the 59 career homers and you got to see dad here it's pulling a few of these pitches now he's trying to go in middle end is where you need to go you're not going to be trying to hit opposite field home runs here if he can consistently throw the ball middle in matt'll get into agreement now the one prior to that landed this was a kid matt chapman again for the people with boys and girls at home we were watching he weighed 110 pounds as he entered high school he was about 5-2-5-3 and he went from that as a freshman to a 6-1 junior that weighed about 195 pounds he was undrafted out of high school undrafted out of high school so he goes to college and he becomes a monster and now he's one of the best players in major league baseball takes a timeout with nine foster only is here with us buster yeah robbie as sex said matt chapman found out just about 24 hours ago about this event he told me he got a text message on sunday morning thought about it briefly and said yeah absolutely let's get this done and he of course is in the event because christian yelich had a sore back and decided to go out christian yelled she's going to hit lead off for the national league in the all-star game he said he's good to go with that his concern was the volume of swings in the home run derby he wants to make sure he's good to go for the brewers in the second half carl right and hindsight being 20 20. his other concern could have been vlad guerrero jr 29 home runs that's who chapman is trying to chase down that was an interesting story his big teammate was nolan aaron imagine being that high school coach two years behind him yeah he had to play behind him and he couldn't play obviously third base couldn't play shortstop they had a move chapman ultimately moved to third base in college but yeah nolan rno they were the two platinum glove winners last year played at the same high school jim by the way is not your batting practice pitcher he in fact works at a company called pro forma which is a printing company and his mom is a school teacher rick vanderhook who of course is the great college baseball coach where chapman went used to make fun of the kids that came out of orange county and he said about chapman you're the toughest kid i know from orange county you couldn't have come from orange county the hook orange county is lovely it's beautiful but the bench county night tonight it is an orange county night well matt did a great job 13 home runs right now and he's going to get 30 seconds more but vlad junior's 29 is just it's got to be tough to even start your round and know that you have to hit 30 home runs to move on well the current a and former cal state fullerton great done with 13. it was going to be a tall order to catch vlad guerrero jr so guerrero jr and jack peterson they advance and they will face each other on the left side of the bracket ends up with 13 home runs he's still got the 30 second bonus right now try to get that try to get 16 more that might that might be tough but have fun with it guys and they are it's great this might be a once in a lifetime opportunity enjoy every second of it ace fans are used to seeing their guys in the home run derby maguire's done it five times sesame has won it twice in a row and to tell you how much the game has changed it wasn't just vlad senior winning with three back in 2007. for a five-year period in the mid-90s every winner in the final round hit three homers great i mean just it is a completely different event now with how many home runs guys are having to hit just growing up to get drafted or or to to move up the ladder in the minor leagues you better show the exit velocity you better show the launch angle you better show an ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark because big league teams are not calling up slap hitters anymore he rushed him back on the last two bob melvin we know you're out there watching because dad was pitching to son i know you're a little nervous and you probably paced a little bit but you should be proud and i'm sure you are of what matt and jim chapman did tonight they got beaten by a guy we can't wait to see in the next round vlad guerrero jr all right so it is peterson and guerrero junior that have moved on to the semifinals on the left side of the bracket right side's turn josh bell big fella from pittsburgh hakuna junior getting set to step in as well we continue with the t-mobile home run derby ronald lecunia jr and josh bell he has gone away allegheny a couple of times i don't think he's getting to lake erie tonight but we'll see the derby rolls on with carlos santana and the polar bear he's going to try to take down the hometown hero as we continue from cleveland at the home run derby yes 2019 t-mobile home run derby is brought to you by t-mobile catch america's game on america's network and in part by geico 15 minutes could save you 15 or more on car insurance we are in cleveland where it's a family affair tonight [Music] aerial coverage provided by goodyear with superior performing tires that knock it out of the park goodyear is more driven quite a shell vlad guerrero breaks the single round record he goes for 29. he advances so does jack peterson he lands the plane with 21. sets up this matchup ronaldo cunha jr and josh bell of the pittsburgh pirates two of the young superstars in the game a six seed and a three seed as we get set to watch acuna junior we got a second broadcast of tonight's game that's over on espn2 our good friends mike petriello eduardo perez and jason benetti let's check it out statcast ai powered by aws ravi thank you so much we are excited to bring you ronaldo acuna jr and everybody tonight in our own way with some exit velocity and some launch angle but reasons for it as well and why it can help you understand what we're seeing this large s this major home run era and it started with vlad guerrero jr yeah over here on our nerd show we were trying to break down these guys before the show and you can see here this is showing the home run launch angle and home run distance and we saw beforehand that acuna was going to hit the ball harder than anybody farther than anybody we saw that bregman was a little softer a little lower that's kind of what happened there we've sort of gone as expectations so far ronaldo jr eduardo what are you seeing from him in terms of where he wants the ball based on his slugging in the first half well based on the slugging it's a lot of the red area that you see the heat maps he wants it on the middle end part of the plate this is the thing right now what we're seeing from tomas perez uh who's throwing the batting practice to him so we're sitting middle away we're seeing that he wants to hit it straight away center during batting practice the wind was blown out to right field completely different now the wind has died down we've seen a lot of balls hit to left field i say throw him a little bit more middle in and let him start launching poolside just like that see him testing center field now to left action all night long on espn and espn2 for now back to ravi hi thank you you can see acuna junior telling roberto perez hey i need it in he's pointing to his chest that's what he's telling him right well poolside is is where you're going to make your money in a derby like this and ronald mccune is one of those guys if you break down his in-game swing it's pretty perfect and so we know he hits the ball far we know he hits the ball hard once he gets onto a little bit of a rhythm here he can put up some huge numbers he's hitting some real high his launch angle has been very very high he does have that 30-second bonus already earned i know you're in atlanta guy there's so much excitement around this atlanta team and acuna and albies are at the center of it yeah and brian mccann has been a big league veteran played with a lot of great players chipper jones he thinks ronald acuna could be the best player he's ever played obviously he's got years and years to prove it but when you look at what he can do in the field at the plate his bat speed he is a perfect player right now and he's only getting better with maturity his dad ronald acuna senior i knew how to play he said i had the talent but didn't necessarily care about lifting the weights nor did i have the best attitude on the field he was really the driving force behind ronaldo junior junior succeeding said i should have made it junior's going to be a star and so far he is a star he's call timeout we'll take it with him he's got 11 with a buck 41 still to go boys and girls choose any major league baseball ballpark and see how many dingers you can hit as your favorite mlb sluggers smoke the competition dominate your own customized home run derby download free on ios and android mlb.com hrd game high sex we got 11. we got a buck 41 to go where are we going here he's on a nice pace man i think he's going to get over 20 and as we've seen in the first few rounds guys are tending to hit more after their break and as long as the batting practice pitcher is throwing it in there you know you hear eddie perez talk about that middle end if he continues to hit middle in acune is going to hit a lot of home runs in this second half of the round this one driven straight to center field and that's a big home run into the pushes out here 450 feet buster yeah and you guys have been talking about how this event is so different than it used to be the preparation the advice the council they get freddie freeman told me that who did the event last year said what he told ronald cooney jr was look when you practice practice without the cage because it gives you the perspective that you absolutely need he also told him take your time make sure that you're not over doing it swing this way he's starting to go center and right center this just shows his talent and he's not necessarily trying to hit the ball over there he's just hitting it where it's pitched and that just shows when everyone talks about his talent and his ability to manipulate the strike zone and he knows exactly what he's doing in the batter's box we're seeing it here in batting practice when he's flicking balls out to right field like this for home runs yeah i mean that one was not hit square and that like aaron judge a few years ago carried forever here's another one dead central that's gone and if you look at these national teammates here on the first base side they are in awe of the opposite field power that acuna's showing right now 21 years young the youngest to ever win this thing juan gonzalez who was 23 when he won it in 93 be ken griffey jr a three-time winner of this event yeah this has powered all fields from mcunion the crowd is appreciative of the 21. and now 22. that's gonna get out of here i'll tell you vlady was impressive to watch but the home runs to the opposite side to center field that might have been a more impressive complete round for ronald cuny jr i love the reaction of the players in those that go over and greet him we're blowing but we are ken griffey jr all over again we're blowing bubbles and kangaroo junior to me is the godfather of the home run derby i think he really put this event on the map where in the back where it's hat vlad junior's loving it this is fun and you can kind of feel certain players taking over a little bit well there's no doubt and we talk about the young game this game in 2019 has become a power pitching power hitting and young players taking over 23 home runs right now he's got a 30-second bonus he could get to that 29 mark national league rookie last year ryan howard the only player to win the derby as a reigning rookie of the year so cunha is going to try to do that he'll duck the bling back inside the unity were you a big bling guy when you were playing oh huge blind you were a big bling i was also big on hitting two home runs in the derby when i did it a little different i uh didn't bring my own batting practice pictures kind of showed up and started taking batting practice it didn't work out for me well there's big josh bell he's getting ready talking to some of the fans that are inside some of the suites a packed house here this is a huge ticket to have here in cleveland i mean they have literally packed them well and cleveland's a baseball town i mean when this place opened a couple decades ago they had six straight years of sellouts 455 straight sold out games that's so impressive they had some really good teams back then as well 95 indians the world series against the atlanta braves talent galore hanley and i mean manny and the rest of that crew albert bell we saw by erica here in the softball game which we'll see later tonight [Music] you talk about sound if you listen at home [Music] sounds a little different there's no doubt there's an explosion off the bats of these guys that it's kind of unmatched and you go to any big big ballpark you hear the crack it's a little different with these guys [Music] there's another one those right center home runs that's not easy to do so we'll take a magenta ball and rip one to left and that will end it 24 homers will they count that one because that one no that came up just short ronald cunha jr boy like peterson and guerrero how about it i mean awfully impressive and again they're tired but they're not gasps the guys that end up losing are the ones that look a lot more tired there's no doubt it's it's tough and when you look at ronald acuna's swing it's built to be complete and to be repeatable and so he's not out there just trying to do one thing he's hitting the ball where it's going i mean look at this spread spray charge he's hitting the ball all over the ball part now the ones that are going 450 plus those are on pull side but to be able to get eight or ten to center to right field that's impressive brian smith through his manager we saw freddie freeman go over there and give him a big hug so the braves are representing dave roberts as well jess all right cody we're gonna go check some balls guys uh out here you got your boy jock he's done this before you've done this before what advice did you have for him uh i didn't have much advice like i said he did it in 15 i did it in 17. he had five minutes to hit which was the extra minute so he's done even more than what we had to do so he knows what he has to do to get it done it's got to feel good though to sit back enjoy this i mean i'm making you come out and do a little bit of work shacks and balls during josh bell's evap but for you this first half has been pretty epic what's it been like for you it's been fun it's definitely been more fun than the past especially last year uh just enjoying every second of it but it's still been a grind so i'm grinding through the days where i don't feel good and uh that's just kind of been the biggest thing this is gonna be kind of cool i'm gonna switch sides so we can actually see real josh is going to nail us right all right so have you ever been out here during a derby out in the field oh i've never been out here on the field it's the first time for me too oh this is kind of cool taking it i had movie bets out here last year we actually caught a couple balls what do you think rob a home run would kind of run around a little bit uh josh has ball really hard so we might want to pay attention here he's starting to hit him hard right now all right robby we're going to pay attention out here he might hit balls in the second or third day they may hit him out of this ballpark there's one that's a huge shot to right field if i'm these kids in right field i'm making sure i back up just a little bit because these line drives might hurt somebody how much does that head speed you know quick hands you watch how much does that play a role here it's huge and you look at josh bell he's got an extremely short swing for a big guy he's got that little hitch in his hands if you look at his timing mechanism is that little hitch and that creates a lot of bat speed and for a guy that's a switch hitter i know how hard it is to keep two swings right his first half the home runs the rbis he's doing everything right now in the batter's box waiting for that foul ball to land basically right in front of the uh pitcher's l for josh bell who grew up in dallas texas he was the second round pick in 2011 the pirates gave him a huge signing bonus this guy that's pitching to him is john schwind who ultimately was his best buddy through the miners a 41st round pick in 2011 his last game 2017. he's the assistant hitting coach with a pirates aaa team in indianapolis right now josh is just a little quick you see those line drive hard ground balls to the right side if he lets it get a little bit deeper maybe hit a few to right center center field that'll get him let the ball travel a little bit more back spin it get in the air all right so he and his buddy are gonna just get together and talk we got four so far got some work to do we'll take a time out with 233 on the clock ronald lacuna who if you watch the odds by the way with the cuny junior he started off somewhere around 11 12 to 1 quickly rose to five to one and once again those guys know something we'll keep an eye on that guy the hometown hero trying to do what harper did last year in frayser a few years ago after the timeout bale hits a moon shot to right clearly capable of getting the 30 extra seconds great story joshua's first career home run came in his second career at that a pitch hit grand slam second career out at pat welcome to the show kid no doubt these two kids this guy and schwinn played at class a west virginia back in 2012. bell tore his meniscus two weeks later schwind on the mound broke his arm so they rehab every day together after a disappointing 2018 where bell only had 12 home runs he really worked this off season to stay tall and it has really paid off for him he uses that leverage by staying tall i talked about his short quick swing and he gets direct to the ball lets it get deep you see now he's hitting some home runs to center field right center field letting that ball get deep it's exactly what he needs to do he's starting to roll on the balls carrying out to right field right now he's got his bonus of 30 seconds what's a number here you want to get to before you get to the bonus i mean i think you need to get to close to 20 i mean 18 19. you got it 25 to beat you got 18 19 20 before you're done here uh he's got a little bit over a minute he's he's close to getting there take a look at that pace tracker up in the upper right hand part of that screen and he's running a little behind pace see right now he's tracking at 18 not 25. hey guys before uh josh bell started his round he actually counted off from home plate using his feet how long how close he wanted the bp pitcher john twin to be and john twins got to be a good five feet closer than any of the other guys have been throwing in this event tex why would he want that well it's all just personal preference there's a lot of guys that want it really close there's a lot of guys that want their bp picture far away i was a guy i didn't want you too close because i wanted to try to mimic the game situation as much as possible but when it's close there's a better chance of you throwing strikes and in a home run derby if you're close to the guy at home plate and you're throwing the ball in the same spot every time that's when you get into a rhythm he's gonna have to do some real work here in the next 14 seconds to make those last 30 count and once again he's grounded balls that one's hammered we had to wait a long time for that now i gotta get this one and he does which gets him to 17 with 30 seconds to go [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] yeah i talked about josh bell standing up a little bit more for a big guy a lot of times those big guys have longer swings and they have a lot of holes in their swings but as you can see he's got an extremely short stroke and as a switch hitter he's got double the job to do in the box as a lefty it is pretty man i mean he stands in the back of that box he's got a little bit of a leg kick a little bit of a hitch in the hands but again direct to the ball this is a fun angle and because you look at how deep he lets that ball get it it's almost into his body but because he's so quick he can get to it his dad earnest who was a wide receiver in college trained him and they would play their own version of home run derby in the backyard growing up in dallas and if the ball went over a fence they'd go out and get some dinner that was the treat for josh bell he's got to do some significant damage here he's going to have 18 after that one leaves on his way to 25 potentially and that one didn't leave so he's still at 17. [Music] here's his dad ernest and you can kind of see this this dream dying right now on the vine well again 17 i mean we went right now we went in here thinking you know 13 14 is a nice round these guys are blowing these numbers away good round for josh bell but he's beaten then ronald lecunia jr shows up with 25. he'll go over and celebrate and congratulate bill but it's a cuny junior who has moved on a lot of people like josh bell a lot of people but what's not to like 6-4 240 the guy's got an amazing first half of the season i see why he was one of the favorites coming in here alex bregman's going to join us in just a couple of seconds talk about what he has seen so far we have seen three advanced to the semifinals with one more first round match to go which will involve that guy carlos santana the major league baseball players trust and kaboom teamed up for the third consecutive year to build a playground uh constellation school's old brooklyn community it's at elementary it is in cleveland ohio having an opportunity to to share our knowledge of baseball and the love of our game is is is one thing but creating an opportunity for young people to just play is something that the guys have focused in on and that the trust is excited about this is the third year now that we've been able to do it around the all-star break again something that players are passionate about we're grateful for the time that they committed we're grateful for for the school and we're grateful to kaboom and something that we're looking forward to again next week well it's incredible what everyone's done to make this happen we were very impressed with the imaginations of the children when they presented their their projects it was very impressive they were very creative they all seemed very excited everyone was very engaged and involved so that was really cool and fun to see carlos santana and his wife very involved with helping design that playground one of the great things the players and the players trust are doing for more information go to playerstrust.org [Music] time for mr santana can we talk about the energy in the stadium right now i mean cleveland again a baseball town they love their indians what a great story here for carlos santana he got traded back to cleveland this year he became a u.s citizen and now he's the starting first baseman in his first all-star game in his hometown and playing in the derby what a year for carlos santana and truly a hometown he signed a three-year 60 million deal to go play with the phillies and whether he admits it or not he missed being in cleveland got traded to seattle never unpacked his bags got sent here the funny part of that story was edwin and carnacion who was his teammate here in cleveland texted him when he got dealt to seattle said enjoy seattle what happens is and carnacion ends up in seattle santana ends up here and re-texts him you enjoy seattle not that there's anything wrong with seattle but this guy clearly wanted to be playing here in cleveland so the round for carlos santana starts and the crowd is already on his feet just waiting for that first home run and here's a guy who he's got kind of a long swing there's a lot of action in his body but in a home run derby when the guys aren't going to be throwing the ball by you that long swing is actually really good to get the ball up in the air and he can cover that outside pitch see a lot of guys wanting the ball really far in to pull it he doesn't need the ball middle end to pull he can cover that outside pitch 30 seconds in he still doesn't have a home run he's hitting line drives he's he's really known for a great eye at the plate he's a big time on base guy and now the crowd trying to help him buster so i talked to carlos santana over the weekend about where he likes to be pitched and guys he said hi he was the only guy among all the competitors i spoke with who said that very specifically you've seen a lot of pitches down in the zone so far there's the first one let's see if that starts a little run there goes number two break the ice a little bit there's got to be some nerves for santana being here in cleveland once you break the ice get off the schneider they're going to start coming this one a towering shot to right field that's going to come up short and now with the line drive he wears number 41 because his favorite player was of course the former indian himself victor martinez had a great career with detroit catcher in third baseman coming up now a first baseman terry francona loves him [Applause] number three he had a little bit of a disappointing last year in philly but he'll admit he got a little bit too pull happy and here's another switch hitter in the field that it's very difficult to consistently hit from both sides of the plate but he knows when he goes to center field a little bit more it keeps him on the baseball [Music] you're hitting now in the home under you've seen some of the other numbers does that get into your head a little bit there's no doubt because you have a number in mind like i need to get to here i need to get to 15 i need to get to 18. we're seeing 21 25 29. it's a little daunting i don't care how much time you have i'm not i don't care about the 440 bonus to hit 20 plus home runs in a home run derby is very difficult [Music] a buck 41 to go santana's got five you ever seen a polar bear do uh warm-ups there you go pete alonso of the mets play ball nlb's initiative to inspire all forms of baseball and softball participation making play opportunities available and fun for everyone to find a youth organization near you go to playball.org so three host players have won the home run derby ryan sandberg in 1990 todd frazier in 15 and last year bryce harper santana is trying to become the fourth here and everybody in this stadium is rooting for this guy after the break we've seen guys get on runs let's see if he can do it we see pitchers throw 98 miles an hour from 60 feet six inches away what what does a batting practice pitcher throw i mean he's thrown in the 60s um now when you move him up it might be you know closer to an equivalent of 80. but again if you throw a major league hitter a ball in the same place over and over again it doesn't matter how hard or soft it is they're going to get locked in and when you see guys hitting 20 25 30 it's because the batting practice pitcher is doing a really good job of being consistent and sometimes the batting practice pitcher is even more important than the contestant all right carlos needs another one to go 440 to get the extra 30 seconds he's got one of those and the line shots are good for one but they're not going to get him that 30. so he's got about 35 seconds to really launch one and especially since he's facing pete alonso you've got to think alonzo is going to be in that 20 plus range he's going to be hitting some bombs he definitely needs that 30 second bonus there's that high pitch that he likes and he sends one soaring towards right that will not get out [Music] carlos looks like he's up a little bit now remember host players do a lot of extra things at the all-star game he might already be exhausted i mean it's tough to be the man at the all-star game and do the derby that one got out let's see one go 440. rip one here i don't know if it's going to be 440 it is out of here and that's the number that pete alonso is going to shoot for 13 home runs for carlos santana 13 home runs is nothing to sneeze at but i got to think that pete alonso in this next round is going to be at 13 pretty quickly if the first few rounds were any indication being a right-handed hitter is not that big of a detriment in this in this format here make room make room here comes the polar bear here comes here comes pete alonso make room for him he's coming out a little bit more on this guy todd frazier gave him the nickname polar bear and he has absolutely taken new york by storm he led the miners with 36 homers last year double in aaa and he has just rolled on since he's already shattered daryl strawberry's best record for home runs by a rookie his 30 homers are tied for the second most by a rookie before the all-star break in baseball history trailing maguire 33 and 87 aaron judges two years ago and all pete alonso is on a pace to do is challenge maguire's full season ricky record of 52. as he steps in we welcome in our buddy alex bregman how are you doing um doing great that was a lot of fun um great atmosphere here in cleveland tonight um but contemplating a home run derby retirement is that right you're gonna shut it down contemplating it i'm not six foot four no but you lots what makes you great you love this challenge and then you see acuna junior and vlad guerrero and you're like you know can you just send out on your youtube channel just just bp just every bp just send it out so we can watch it because we still love watching you take bp wow that was a lot of fun oh my god um flatty junior are you kidding me i mean these guys are 20 21 years old maybe it's just a young man's game you got pete alonso being a rookie here maybe just got to be a rookie akuna is a superstar man he is a absolute superstar so we see pete alonso here 30 home runs as a rookie in that ballpark too how impressive is that for you so impressive we got to see him in spring training this year and he was blasting balls right center left center he uses the whole field and uh just to see him take pitches down and away out to right center is the most impressive thing the crowd is cheering here because obviously alonso is competing against santana how important is that first one do you think alex so important uh last year in dc my first swing i hit out and it calmed the nerves completely and how aware are you of the number you're shooting for how aware is alonso of 13 he's super aware of it he knows he knows he's got to get the 13 and uh you get a little you get a little bit more of the nerves as you get closer to it uh your guy for erlanger today did you see what he said about the ball said it's definitely a juice ball is the baseball juice this year i don't know i guess if i guess if i'm hitting homers it's got to be juice is there a difference you feel them every day i don't know i don't know um i think i think the game's changing though the ball the pitchers are pitching up in the zone and and offensive players that the one thing that we want to do is have a high ops which is drive the ball and walk so um getting on base hitting the ball for a higher and hitting the ball for well i think there are less singles or less base hits pitchers don't mind giving up solo home runs i mean a guy would much rather give up a solo home run then give up five or six straight hits and and get a three or four run big inning and i'll tell you this nobody pitches inside really as much anymore people used to pitch inside a lot more and now guys are hanging out over diving trying to hit the ball of the yard so i don't know i don't know i wasn't i wasn't around when when uh when when jv started so i couldn't answer that question but um i don't know we got two at 452 feet so he's got his 30-second bonus finish that's something i've never sniffed a 30 second bonus he hasn't really hit his groove here but you see these home runs to center field once he does i don't think 13 is going to be a problem at all that ball just went over the trees in center field yep the second row of trees there's two rows of trees out there all right quick timeout here he's sitting at six he still needs seven more he's got 144 on the clock alonso continues and you are the social media guy you said you want to be from lebron james of baseball no you don't want to be a lebron james no what i what i had said was that i want to open up a school for kids like lebron did oh okay and i have a charity a b for autism and um hopefully one day we're going to raise enough money to open up a school for autistic children in houston texas good for you but i do love watching lebron play basketball i'll tell you that alonzo's got a buck 20. he's the favorite of many and he's just a little more than halfway there and to your point tex he's not in any groove i'm not sure the pitching is being grooved morgan's pulling a lot of these pitches yeah and and listen once he does get in the groove he can hit four or five home runs in 15 seconds that one's a little foul he's got the time he's got the power i think he just needs to settle himself down a little bit and get back to making solid contact because the ball will go that ball is hammered that's most impressive hitter that you've seen not here tonight but just in general alex who is that um number 27 for the los angeles angels fair point mike trout if he did this would he win it i think uh i think if it ever goes to philly might try to win it not l.a next year it was at the angels ballpark right now i think he'd win it wherever he did it alonzo just hit his 13th here all he needs is one more to move on and he doesn't even have the 30 second bonus there it is there it is he doesn't need the 30 second bonus he knows it well done it's gone and he's getting booed that's the cleveland fans man that's why you love him that's why you love him you've had family at just about all of your significant events how important is that for alonzo that's so awesome how great is that that is so awesome and now his now the guy throwing bp to him gets to relax [Music] that is so much fun to watch by the way he didn't even get that one no but he still knew it was [Applause] [Music] gone so here's a guy with a very simple swing because he's so strong he doesn't need to do a lot of things in the box and rex i look at your swing as well you let the pitcher provide the power you know if i square that ball up my hands are quick enough if i can backspin it it's going to go backspin to the pull side in the air and he's one of those guys [Applause] that's it exactly he's a little bit bigger than you are 14 homers 466 feet the maximum that traveled 112 off the bat wow that's crazy at 466 to center at the progressive sign that was the best one of the day the one over the trees oh they went over the forest oh my god have you ever seen a ball hit there in a game here uh nope absolutely actually you know david delucci hit one of the longest balls ever into those trees we thought that was impressive just consider the retirement but don't retire from the home run dirty [Music] get the crawford boxes going thanks for being with us thanks thanks it's alex bregman he's out all right we move from the first round to the semifinals alex will watch his john peterson takes aim at that right field wall in those bleachers against this guy who put on a show and broke a record with 29 homers in round number one look at a final four that may shatter records we've already had 148 in the first round the prior record was 128. peterson vlad pete alonso and ronald acuna jr with more on ronnie here is marley well and bruno was telling me something to me so what's going to be the final bloody guerrero that's it it's going to be vlady guerrero you guys believe this venezuela is supporting over here vladimir yeah that's it tomas was that pretty fun to throw in there yeah a little nervous but it's okay there we go so there you have it [Music] we're going to be there in the final venezuela and the dominican republic back to you guys thank you marley excellent i know pete alonso will have something to say about that so will jack peterson he'll be batting second vlad guerrero jr ready to step to the plate off a round in which he hit 29 home runs big boy has power indeed dad not here tonight but glad guerrero has his own power and he must be thrilled watching this show so here we go with the semi-final round gets a little serious now you see him just point a little more in and in fact that one may have jammed him off the barrel and that's gone you would think that guys would be a little bit fatigued after the first round but the numbers will show you historically guys at just as many home runs in the second and third rounds if not more because i feel like they're a little bit more relaxed and they know what they have to do to move on [Music] heading towards the scoreboard up there in left field and it hit way off about midway through that scoreboard for a 400 and here's another one in that direction he's definitely put on the most impressive power show tonight and vlad senior when he played in batting practice he wasn't a guy that was trying to work the ball the other way and let it get deep from the very first swing he was going deep and you see that with vlad jr it's like he was born to hit home runs yes and you knew at a young age i played with vlad senior with the angels he talked about his son he knew he was going to be a stud from a very young age he got 30 you know does he have 30 in him i could easily see it absolutely calls timeout 239 and a great start here in the semifinal round peterson's waiting want to dress like an all-star visit the official online shop for major league baseball mlb shop.com find the largest selection of on-field all-star game jerseys and caps authentic t-shirts collectibles and more suit up like your favorite all-star mlb shop.com glad guerrero back after a breather and launching more home runs to left and right now he's on pace for 27 but again the easy pop it's not it doesn't look like he's swinging hard up there the ball's just jumping off his back another one into the seats and left and here goes another one buster yeah so i talked to blatty the other day with some translating help from our friend marley and i asked him about his batting practice he said first round i try to hit to right field and then after that i hit it all fields and i said well do you have a home run round and he sounded a little exasperated he said i try to hit home runs every round yes that's the old take a pitch until you're in scoring position and then the guy comes back after popping out in the first pitch why did you swing at that while i was in scoring position that's how vlad thinks that he is putting on a show he really is he hit the most impressive home run i've seen all year uh-oh he's in toronto against zach britton he took a 96 mile an hour two seamer at his feet and hit a home run a line drive into the second these are massive shots and the crowd is on its feet they know they're seeing something special 30 is absolutely in the target for vlad one pace for 34 right now he's actually taking a little bit of time off right now he needs to take a breather look at him he's already got 100 he's got a minute and 20 seconds left and he's already got 20 home runs there's another one you mentioned zach britton by the way in zach britton's first spring training 2011 he was with vlad's dad first pitch he throws to vlad down in his last year he drills him in the foot with a slider but but vlad's his dad learns that britain is one quarter one-quarter dominican so he grinds on him to learn how to speak spanish he ultimately meets vlad guerrero jr and you mentioned it years later he gives up the home run to vlad guerrero jr those two are very close and britain even said like i was surprised i've never seen a guy hit that pitch for a home run 24 and he still has one minute left with a bonus and these balls to left are massive this is something special i think the most impressive round i ever saw was aaron judge in miami this is judging right now it is and he's not spraying it every ball is being pulled to left field and we've we've made all sorts of uh big deals out of that 19-foot wall that's that doesn't even exist no when you think about what these guys know how to do it's lifts the ball nowadays that high wall has nothing it is not a problem at all he didn't even want to swing at that one and he hits this one all the way to left center field and a little shot he's got 30 seconds to get three you know that 30 is in his head you know it's there he matches the number on the uniform how appropriate yes big boy has power [Applause] and all day tomorrow i'm not nothing against the actual all-star game but you are not going to hear the crowd get into the game tomorrow like you have tonight this crowd has been great other than them viewing pete alonso they have been awesome [Music] 20 years 114 days he is certainly trending towards winning this thing and becoming the youngest to ever do it born for home run derbies 56 homers so far second most in the derby all time second most in a derby all time already already already [Applause] look at jocks going man i should have gone first man why did i have to follow this guy they said he wanted to get 30 in round one he sits here with 27 and 23 seconds to go there goes 28. [Applause] puts his head on the desk one more gets him 30. [Applause] eight seconds eight seconds [Applause] they got to 30 though that's impressive matching that first round we got a scoreboard here which says 30. now they're just 29 taking one off okay back-to-back rounds of 29 home runs for vlad guerrero jr my god he's just going to save his 30 round for the five you might see it that is incredible look what he's done breaks a record in the first round matches the record and hey he's he's going to try to beat john carlos stans 20 in the final round that is such a pretty swing oh my goodness how excited are they in toronto right now he got bgo bushette and that guy look at nolan aronado being like hey jock you better bring it buddy so you got the 29 homers with the 468 foot maximum distance the yellow ones are the are the shorter ones the red ones are the ones that go over 440. oh that is just like you're born to do this good luck jock yeah i had jock in this thing that that's i'm not feeling great about it right now but you never know [Applause] [Music] jess yeah talking to jock you guys in bp and then again right now first of all he's watching vlad going i i don't even know right now but he could say he's like something i learned last time i did the derbies i took it way too seriously he's like i'm just gonna have fun and the fact that i'm going against 29 home runs he's like that it's gonna just allow me to settle in smile and enjoy it listen jock plays in la he's been in two straight world series this guy doesn't get rattled he's got that california cool to him from palo alto so we can talk about how he needs to hit 30 or 29 to ty vlady but listen if anybody can do it jack peterson's the guy he's off to a really good start here as he's got three quickies and you know he's gonna it's just look out it just feels like he's gonna get to a number where he's gonna look up and say you know what i i have a chance here i have a chance and then the then the intensity is going to ratchet up because he's pounding balls right now he's got one at 440 and he is hammering the baseball again i'm looking at this right field porch and when you get up close to that second deck you know it's an absolute bomb got to keep rolling he's got his bonus now this one's a dead central and they're standing up waiting for it to get over the wall and it does there's another one hooked down the line just foul that's a fair one this is getting exciting shots in a groove right now that ball up and in he feels really good about it dino evil is doing a really great job pitching to him [Applause] 2 45 so still a little time before time out you'd like to get to 15 before you call the timeout get halfway there that's a pop-up but he's running out of little gas right now jack's not gonna top spin many balls so even if he just clips one a little bit with that backspin the ball's gonna go he's gonna lift it no problems getting the ball out of the ballpark as soon as it leaves the bat with jack peterson you know it's out that one is going down the line jack peterson is right in that wheelhouse for 29. he's in a great spot right now hasn't used his timeout either he is right in that zone where 29 is realistic with two minutes and 30 seconds with that bonus to go and now he calls timeout he's right there it's right there time out at the derby and yes jock is the given name his dad liked it his dad played for rod dado at usc and he called everybody tiger so his brother's name is tiger so he's got jock and tiger and of course the brother champ ace tracker's got him at 30. he's fights for 30. jim looks nervous he's like hey brother you got to get going here buddy keep up the pace let's do this go ahead buster you guys talked the other day about how john peterson wanted johnny washington who's an instructor with a padres to throw to him tonight andres didn't give permission and so jock on saturday actually held auditions for dino evil and jose vizcaino and after biz guyana threw him he said you know what you throw too hard i'm going with dino evil who's done this event twice in 2007. he was the guy that threw to vladimir guerrero senior and in 2015 albert pools he's hitting a couple high and they're coming up a little short and he's sitting there now and that one's going to get out he's going to have 18 home runs and there's 19 treks this is within reach here yeah this is not too big of a stage for jock peters he was a runner-up back in 2015 hit a lot of huge home runs the last few years for the dodgers in the playoffs in the world series and he's got his whole national league teammates here on the side room needs to get to 29 pops one up he's still got the 30 seconds to go with the near minute another pop-up i gotta if i'm here how are you feeling if you're him right now i gotta feel good i kind of feel a little tired though because you know he's swinging a lot this is his second round but as long again as long as he's making solid contact the ball's gonna go what do your arms feel like at this point what's what's tired but you know what it's it is complete adrenaline at the end of these rounds no matter what you're doing your body might feel heavy but all you need to do is touch it and it's going to go 24 needs 29 and it just looks a little slow down a little bit yeah just a little bit here dino eagles doing his job he's doing a great job [Applause] 25. boy we're going to have a tremendous 30 seconds he's four shy of tying vlad guerrero he's in a good spot right now that ball is going to go that one's going to count too if it goes he is feeling really good about himself right now and they are shocked over there with vlad guerrero juniors 29. remember he wanted 30. we're just going to have records broken and over again so seriously is this a baseball thing is it a launch angle thing why are we shattering records well first of all the baseball is jumping i mean everybody there's there's no doubt that the ball is going further and again these guys are taking the home run derby seriously they understand what they're supposed to do they're practicing they're trying to get into a rhythm they're trying to get into a groove this is not an exhibition these guys are out here to win they got a million bucks on the line they got a national audience there's millions of people worldwide watching this thing this is a great event he looks up into the crowd and a huge group standing up he pointed he winked at it you saw his brother champ out there as much as uh jack peterson is looked up to by champ jacques will tell you a champ is his hero he needs two to tie in the next 30 seconds and there he is brother champ what a great family baseball family these guys love their baseball they love l.a going to the world series two years in a row has been really cool [Music] there you go 28. 29 nine he's tied he looks over to the guerrero side and lines one he's got eight seconds he's one shot that may do it he hits 30 in the round to beat him jack peterson 30 to win it and knock out vlad guerrero jr [Applause] wait they're off on the main scoreboard he finished with 29. so the main scoreboard is different than what we're seeing at home on espn i think the 29 on the espn telecast is right and now they just fixed it on the scoreboard so we tied here carl 29 is the number [Music] boy i had 27 28 29 and you were right the score of the main scoreboard here in cleveland was a little bit off it's been off a few times here and so we were everyone in the stadium was going nuts but they did not he did not hit 30. there's going to be a minute play-off here this would be fun so peterson takes a break we're going to have our first one-minute playoff of the night so just a straight minute [Applause] we know evil over he looks exhausted we never had 29 home runs it seems now and this night it's become commonplace yeah and and to finish my thought the balls are going further but again when i was a young kid i was told don't try to hit home runs in batting practice spray the ball around you need to prove to everybody that you're a pure hitter that you can hit it all over now these guys are trained from a very young age to hit the ball in the air and hit home runs so when they get to the big leagues you look at the quality of pitchers that you're facing you look at the quality of relievers you're facing every night they're saying hey guys i have to hit home runs to score runs here i'm not going to hit get 10 singles off of justin berliner it's not going to happen right so i have to go for the fences i take a look at the rules again now that we are tied and we have by the way had 4 25 plus home run rounds first time we've had multiple 25 plus home run rounds we've had four of them you now have a one minute at-bat no clock stoppage and if we're tied after this a swing off of three swings per batter it's incredible that guerrero's done what he's done in the first two rounds it's unbelievable that peterson was able to match that yeah and we're gonna look at vlad just keep doing what he's doing this might hit the camera up there over the miller light can that one climbed over the wall my goodness three for three [Music] [Applause] one of the first ground balls we've seen from vlady and you see that one's gone our scoreboard here is just adding on to the 29. there's another one down the line that leaves that's like albert bell territory remember everybody used to hit him here oh man well there's apparently there's been one guy to hit the ball off the scoreboard in the game was mark maguire back in the day against oral herscheiser and they put a big bullseye up there for oral the next day to show how far that ball was hit with 29 there goes another one so he's got 36 in this round with six on the clock there's another one [Applause] 36 okay we got 37 on our board here can we start the scoreboards right started with 29 and he adds eight that's what jack peterson will shoot for in 60 seconds i'm all right with the three swing swing off if we get there that would be fun but listen i mean eight home runs in a minute that's a lot of home runs i mean that's a pace of 32 which no one's hit yet but you know again i'm not going to count jock out he was your guy to start the night so yo let's give carl some credit for saying jock jams was my guy to start the night what an unbelievable first home run derby for a guy that feels like he's been in the majors for like three weeks he belongs well and and here's a guy who listen he hasn't put up the huge numbers yet but he will let's go to jess clayton all right you're on your way to dinner with the fam and you come back because you see jaw coming back yeah well uh charlie and callie saw poppy's dad up there that's what they know him as he said we got to go cheer him on so we're back and uh that was pretty fun to watch all i saw is you come streaming in with two kids in hand they're like i've got to watch job do this i was excited but i mean listen to her she's saying this let's go jack poppy jock is that his nickname no poppy is obviously oh got it yeah we're excited we're in them awesome thank you jess we'll all watch it together with a minute to go he needs to get to 37. and that won't get out and there might be a little bit of an advantage to vlad jr here because he got a few more minutes to rest because he got to watch josh after his round rest for four or five minutes john just hit a few minutes ago so he's still got to be a little fatigued he's got two of the eight that he needs that one is not going to get out [Music] got a figure with around 30 seconds he's got to be at four and he's not there now there goes number three [Music] [Applause] oh my goodness jock's gonna do it watch him [Music] not there [Applause] that's 36. [Applause] needs one more this has to get out he got it go go oh he tied him wow wow guerrero keeps raising the bar and peterson keeps finding it [Applause] talk about drama right here [Applause] did i sign up for this [Applause] oh the last one had it go and look at how close it was that last one barely got out attaboy champ clayton kershaw the rest of them all loving that yes sir [Applause] [Laughter] more work to do [Applause] that was fantastic so now three swings this is something we haven't seen before a swing off three swings per batter are we gonna see three in a row i think one of these guys hit three in a row huh i think one of these guys is going to hit three in a row three swings here we go what a treat for the crowd what a treat for the people at home watching this 29 29 8 and 8. three swings you can take one smart there's one four oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] all right he's and this i believe jack peterson now has the advantage of knowing what he needs to get again you only have three swings you can take as much time as you want as if it's not there don't swing at it rod guerrero attempted to become the youngest to ever win this derby jack peterson finished at the runner-up how about the home run derbies that peterson's been involved with the fraser epic oh i was there in 2015 on the field watching the home run derby he was making that ballpark look like williamsburg i mean the williamsport home runs can get a little crazy silly because i mean that's what jack peterson was doing i mean frazier was kind of hitting him just over the fence in left field peterson was hitting moon shots all over that ballpark all right so understand vlad guerrero jr has hit 67 home runs and may not advance to the finals peterson would say that's baseball in 2019. certainly the home run derby where records have been shattered three swings for jack peterson to hit two homers to advance [Music] just taking a little time he's taking a little breather here there's one so at the very least we'll have another swing on his one more [Applause] that's not gonna drama carl it's not going to do it this would be a walk off and a walk into the finals [Applause] do it again these guys just want to give us more do it again the fans want more everybody at home wants more josh bell wants more champ once more here we go again i just gotta believe that peterson given that he went second is just more tired than than guerrero this may help because now you get a chance to breathe again a little bit you're not coming off of that round clayton and his kids look at the daughter they have another chance these kids are like daddy i thought we were going to dinner i'm hungry i want jock to win and all but incredible show these two are putting on what a show three swings again [Music] [Applause] no it's not there's two [Music] [Applause] oh he got under okay two for three and he looks over at jock who will not make eye contact now he needs two do we need to remind the fans at home there's a million bucks at stake here these guys are serious right now that one he's talking to it a little bit it needed a little bit more help these balls aren't going as far as they were in the first round because these guys are a little bit tired but it doesn't take away from the excitement [Applause] take a look at statcast ai it's powered by aws black guerrero jr hits 69 homers [Music] peterson is sitting at 60 plus himself he needs two here to continue facing vlad guerrero jr and there's one [Applause] [Music] [Applause] nope now we're down to one swing here we go [Applause] look at guerrero this is incredible oh [Music] what a valiant fight by john peterson and the embrace from guerrero jr what a show we've never seen a swing off let alone two of them i mean this gets better every single year carl and i love the way that the derby has been put together the timing the you know the players listen a lot of people were saying why is vlad guerrero jr in this game he's not an all-star this is why he's here he's putting on an absolute display here and he's advancing to the finals incredible [Applause] [Music] his dad won it no seven and there's a chance that 27 is going to do it here in 2019. jock peterson's final swing and he knew it right away all right marley go ahead did you ever doubt you were going to do it i believed in god and i believed in myself and that's one hell of a player over there and that was a great show that we put on and we are here and now i'm headed to the finals do you agree that it's going to be vlad guerrero and acuna in the final game either one of them he would love to see kunya junior but vlady just told me that pete alonso is going to put on a good show let's listen to jess now jack john that was crazy what was it like to be in the box going into the overtime all of it insane uh just a lot of excitement you know that's uh that's why you participate in that to enjoy moments like that special one of the most talented hitters in the game i mean you saw the show he put on so it was just fun to compete against him and uh yeah what a blast that was i mean even your teammates i mean clayton came back from dinner he came running back in i mean it was unbelievable to see you guys just keep going the tie but for you i mean you had to have been exhausted what what yeah good bad for him he's got to keep hitting i'm on toast but uh like i said that's a special hitter he's got a beautiful swing that just yeah i mean that was just it was fun to watch fun to be a part of and it was awesome tacos epic to watch ravi thank you thank you to jock and congratulations to both you understand that we began the night with the largest home run round being 28. because of the swing offs vlad guerrero ended up with 40 in the second round a record that may never be broken we've had 227 tonight what a night welcome back to the 2019 t-mobile home run derby with mark cashier of buster only just mendoza marley rivera i'm karl it certainly has been a home run night by the way this guy's about to step to the plate as we take a look at statcast ai powered by aws and because of the swing offs he hasn't swung a bat on this field for an hour and eight minutes and that's why i like the new format in the old format you got ten outs and so if it took you a while to get into a rhythm the round might be over now that you have four minutes you're gonna swing as much as you can get into that really good rhythm of getting the ball up in the air hitting the home runs it might take you 30 seconds to get back into it but you have plenty of time after that we came into the night talking about how the advantage was for the left-handed hitters we have no left-handed hitters left you got a cunia you got alonzo and you got blood guerrero well now that i think of it the amount of home runs that are hit over 450 feet why did we think that it was going to be a problem that one of the the fields was a little bit longer a little bit higher i mean these guys aren't hitting 380 foot homers right they're hitting them 440 450 480 i mean vlad junior hit a ball 488 feet last round these guys are hitting tanks well junior starts out by going to just dead central and that's gone and now he sprays one to right field and that one comes up a little shy so it's been about an hour since he last swung a bat remember alonso in his first round didn't have to do what we've seen peterson do and guerrero what did he get to the 29s yeah he only needed 14. yeah i got a feeling in this round i mean i think acuna is going to get over 20 again alonzo's gonna have to step it up for the second round [Music] not making it easy on himself he is just powering off the center field i could watch this guy hit in practice all day long remember the braves signed this guy as a 16 year old out of venezuela for 100 000 think about the return on investment that these guys have gotten just signed his big hundred million dollar deal he's gonna be a brave for a long time [Music] three early with one minute gone and just lifting just massive towering shots very different than the vlad guerrero style these are like golf shots tex it's interesting to me that ronaldo cuny has taken the approach that wherever the balls hit i'm going to hit it out to that field he's hit as many right to right field as he has center and i mean right now it does not matter where the ball's pitched he's gonna hit it where it's pitch and it's gonna go out and again that 440 thing for him not gonna be a problem we just saw one go 468 so he's halfway to his bonus it does feel like there's a little bit less energy in the stadium right now because after last round seeing the amount of home runs and the drama of three extra mini rounds to get to a winner people are just kind of waiting to see what alonso does and see if there's some drama at the end [Applause] junior junior nearly signed with the royals back in july of 2014 the same day that the braves called and offered more money he ended up going to atlanta he ended up as you said signing that eight-year 100 million dollar deal and he's part of a young corps there with a bunch of veterans that have folks in atlanta thinking they're set to go on another run similar to the maddox sklavin schmoltz run timeout nine on the clock with a buck 42 to go hey thursday start of a four game set the american league west leading astros taking on the texas rangers who have been tremendous this season in arlington woodward's got that team playing really well eight o'clock eastern time on espn on the espn app as we start the second half of the major league baseball season baseball tonight we'll be there we will have a show thursday at seven o'clock eastern time from arlington so the in-state showdown astros and rangers there's a guy joey gallo at some point you gotta believe if he weren't hurt maybe he would have been asked to participate in the derby i do believe he he did have that oblique injury earlier in the year but if he was 100 healthy he would be in this derby and he might be my favorite if he was in the derby all right so acuna's got about 42 to go with nine on the clock they are hanging up there for a while there's some people out there who are wondering about that rule and i'm not sure if it's an unwritten rule we're getting pitches thrown before baseball's land and maybe it's a ah agreement between the players this is how we're doing it yeah listen i don't think it's a big deal i don't think the rule is that important i mean let these guys swing listen if you're willing to rapid fire and keep swinging the bat and tire yourself out you can do that but if i'm a hitter i would actually like to spend a little bit of time in between to make sure i can regroup this generation of hitters don't seem to care about that no they're fine you know cuny had 25 in the first round he's on pace for 16 or 17 right now he's definitely picked it up here in the last few minutes he's going to blow 16 or 17 out of the water with the minute on the clock and 30 second bonus alonzo's not up here watching the number he's down there thinking right now where more than alonso hit in the first round already so he's going to have to do better than he did these oppo home runs i mean this is not normal ladies and gentlemen he's hitting balls down around his ankles oppo home runs and bp you just can't do that if you're a normal person [Music] he's got his bonus he's got 16 right now 20 seconds left he's going to need to get over 20 because i think alonzo is going to be ready for this semi-final round i think alonzo is going to be ready the batting practice pitcher to alonso wasn't exactly zoning into pete's wheelhouse i think that's the one that you're going to be concerned he wasn't and i'm sure there's going to be a conversation 17 bat drops he's got 30 seconds still to go alonzo's making his way to the field and cuny will still have 30 more seconds [Music] he looks up at the scoreboard and we look up to the skies and now down on the city of cleveland aerial coverage provided by goodyear with superior performing tires that knock it out of the park goodyear is more driven [Music] incredible night of home run power that we have seen from the likes of jack peterson vlad guerrero jr ronald acuna peter alonso 246 total home runs tonight the previous high was 221 this is the new age boys and girls ladies and gentlemen that's where we're living right now and in years past it's like hey i want to see this one guy or that one guy hit this entire field has put on a show i mean there's not one guy that's hit tonight that's like man you know what he didn't belong here every single person i remember when i hit i hit two home runs and i'm like ain't never gonna ask me back to the home run derby just a different generation of guys they have so much more natural power and they can hit the ball out at will and by the way i'm i'm thinking there was some sincerity when alex bregman sat down with us and said i'm seriously contemplating retiring from the derby this is a guy that was determined both times to win it and realized that it's getting a little further away as opposed to me getting closer yeah i just don't have the firepower and again one of the best hitters in baseball one of the best players in baseball but you know these guys are big and they're strong they hit the ball 480 feet that's not brex that's not what he does in batting practice the goal is not the flatty guerrero numbers so cunha's checked out he's done he was exhausted he was exhausted 19 home runs a great round but i got to think alonzo's got more in the tank and if he can get into a rhythm with his batting practice pitcher i think he can hit over 20. this is that opposite field swing that we absolutely love from ronald acuna again he's so short and quick to the ball he can wait until the very last second a la barry bonds and just flick the ball out the other way and one of the reasons that the braves are so excited about him is he's getting better i couldn't ask for a more perfect swing a more sound approach at the plate he knows exactly what he's doing he controls the strike zone he controls the batters box this is so special to watch plus a terrific launch angle guy in an era where launch angle was everything he hit one almost 470 113 off the bat and again the red ones are over 440 feet so a good spray chart and his spray chart has definitely been more unique tonight than anyone else that's that's special vladie's spray chart is solely to left field doesn't make it any less impressive because he's got the distance but man if i'm a fan of the game and i want to watch a pure hitter i'm going to watch the next decade of ronald acuna being a special player we'll say this having watched vlad guerrero now and you see how he felt acuna at the end alonso has to get to the final because i don't think cocoon just got it in him to beat that guy like this is nothing right now for flash he might have emptied the tank here so let's see what lonzo can do and let's even get him a little better roll into the first round [Music] [Applause] [Music] guys you see the guy the pitcher throwing to beat alonso is his cousin derek morgan he's an operations manager for the waterway gas and wash company pepper pike it's about 19 miles from here he grew up an indian span and jess and i talked to him after the first round and asked him how his heart rate was he said it was going pretty good yeah derek morgan alonzo's second cousin practice session together they're pretty much like brothers you said it they grew up one in florida that's where alonzo's from he attended florida and derrick morgan from ohio they both come from military families and that's why pete alonso has said that he wants to donate his winnings to wounded warriors and tunnels for towers a staten island group that benefits first responders we're seeing some of these opposite field home runs from alonso too in the regular season we talked about he's got 30 home runs before the break a new record daryl strawberry had 26 for the mets but pete alonso hits the ball to center field better than anybody in major league baseball moves shots out straight away there's a long one here he's already got his uh 30 seconds of extra bonus time and he's starting to climb towards that 19 takes a pitch still 230 on the clock he had to go down and get that [Music] and he one that up says my bad [Applause] he's just such a nice guy we've gotten to know him over the last few weeks you know getting getting to his first all-star game in his rookie season he's done a lot of interviews playing in the mets not a lot of positives to come out of shae this year at city field but man this is one guy that you can look at as a mets fan and say we can build around pete alonso well he's had a bunch of swings here and the baseball hasn't gone over the wall this one might to left center field but he's under two with the 30-second bonus all it takes is him to get on a little bit of a roll and he'll get a lot out in a row all right so he's got a buck 49 plus the 30. he's sitting at eight and needs 19. earlier you guys saw pete alonso right before this with his head towel covered between his legs i was talking to jacob degrom jeff mcneal his mets teammates they're all staring at him down in the tunnel and they're like he is so serious we love how he takes the game seriously but even here guys at the home run derby we've seen every kind of personality for pete alonso he is in this thing to win it reminds me a lot of bryce harper with his dad last year down in the tunnel very focused before this round he's getting a little bit of a roll here jess he just knocked two out and this one to straight away center field that gets out so does this next one and the climb to 19 is definitely underway and he's got over man he's got plenty of time he's got the 30 second bonus no reason to panic here for pete alonso just a little different feel knowing what guerrero is capable of his first round he needed 14. here he is needing 19 and he's sitting there at 13 with a minute to go i just think given what we've seen i'd be shocked if somehow vlad guerrero jr doesn't win this thing yeah i mean vlady's put on an absolute show you never know though i mean round around all it takes is someone to get hot pete alonso he's getting close this is number 15 right there big fly here this should be number 16. and you see how low he keeps his hands he gets underneath the ball really well he doesn't have to backspin it he doesn't hit it perfect he starts underneath the ball and that's what allows him to hit the ball all over the park up in the air well there's one there's another one this one to straight away center field and he is right on the heels of acuna there's 19. he wants one more he doesn't want the 30-second bonus he wants to hit it right here look at him oh i love it i absolutely love this kid pete alonso and the man he says is like his brother are going to the finals he almost puts you to sleep his first two minutes and then he goes out and gets on an absolute tear that was fun don't bears go into hibernation that's right there you go jacob degrom out there acuna gives him a big hug and pete alonzo will take a little sip of gatorade and this is a final a lot of people had anticipated vlad guerrero jr and pete alonso teammate jeff mcneal out there as well you're right tax well not much has gone right at city field this guy has certainly gone right yeah and i look at pete alonso because of his demeanor because of the way he embraces new york city he's like a just a stronger david wright i mean david wright was a guy that the mets could hang their hat on to be consistent available to the media a guy that all the fans love and i see pete alonso as a young player being just like david wright it's a great comparison and one i'm sure he'd love to know is being made the polar bear gets into it and i tell you what he wants it bad so does vlady jr we got ourselves a final set perhaps for the ages we've already broken all sorts of records tonight [Music] this man is a mountain and may be tough to climb vladi junior alonso in the finals when we come back mark deshara this has been quite a performance by all the participants all right so 29 for vlad guerrero in the first round and then he went 40 in the second he had two swing offs against jack peterson 69 total homers to 34. yeah it's interesting i mean vlad jr has doubled up pete alonso i wonder if there's any fatigue going on it doesn't look like vlad junior's fatigued but i mean you've had to hit a lot more home runs to get here in two derbies lad guerrero senior managed to hit 19 homers i think junior would trade all of the home runs in the derby to have a guaranteed career like the hall of famers i would agree with that we know we'll have a rookie win the derby this year because both of these guys are rookies the last to do it and the only one to do it outright outright was aaron judge a couple years ago i agree with you that was the most impressive performance that i'd seen in the derby and you wondered will you ever see another like person like him yeah aaron judge is a once in a lifetime type hitter but when vlad jr gets on a roll it's such a beautiful thing to watch he takes a pretty round of batting practice when he's on a roll and he's gotten on a few of them already today so alonzo goes second how about the advantage disadvantage first or second what would you want to do i would definitely want to go second i mean you got to know if i can take a little bit of time or if i have to swing as fast as i can going second is always better you have two timeouts in this final round not just one you get two we've seen some incredible excitement here recently in the derby as he calls a timeout harper rallied last year we saw todd frazier do that as well taking a timeout with 252 on the clock so he's already got his 30 second bonus because he's hit two over 440 feet his dad won this thing in 2007 black guerrero as a rookie trying to win this thing in his first try you know what i love ravi it's 10 30 local a lot of these fans have been here since four or five o'clock nobody has left this building every single person is staying here because of the show that these guys are putting on now light shot to left that won't get out a little different round here for guerrero we're starting to see perhaps those 69 home runs take their take their effect this is a very different looking round for junior there's no doubt and we've seen it in a lot of home run derbies in the past where the last round guys are not hitting as many home runs that's where the big strong guys that can miss balls like both of these guys have an advantage so i just don't think that they're both going to be tired but let's see if vlad junior 69 home runs in the first two rounds catch up to him there's a riser in the left that gets into the fifth row so he's now got a little roll going back to back no blue jays player has ever won the home run derby he's already taken the second timeout that shows he's a little he's a little tired so eight home runs for vlad guerrero jr in the finals against pete alonso [Music] marcus stroman out there to talk with him santana giving him some advice say wednesday looking forward to this tracy morgan will host the 2019 espys it's presented by capital one eight o'clock eastern time on abc and the espy's auction benefiting the v foundation for cancer research is open through wednesday your chance to bid on some amazing experiences with all proceeds benefiting the v foundation for cancer research bid at ebay.com espn all right the timeout pays off as we're back and guerrero hits that first one over the wall and left final round of this 2019 homerun derby pete alonso waits give me a number you're looking for i'm i'm looking for like 23-24 i mean pete alonso's going to hit over 20. so vlad's got to step it up just a little bit he's going to get his 32nd bonus but he's definitely behind the pace that he hit the first two rounds [Music] prior to that first two rounds every human was behind that face he just shattered the record with 29 and then he destroyed one with 40. [Applause] a minute to go on the clock 14 15 home runs after that swing and he's starting to get on a roll and he's starting to hit let the ball or hit the ball a little bit further out front that means that his bat's getting a little bit heavier but he's good enough he's talented enough to make that adjustment and just go out and get the ball a little bit early easy swing there and that flies well over the wall and left there goes another one there you go and for those at home you need to swing the bat out front a little bit more as you get tired because when you're fresh and you're quick you can let that ball get really deep and explode as you get a little fatigue make sure you catch that ball and clip it out front a little bit 20 home runs 22 seconds to go with the 30 second bonus and again you can definitely see a little more tired swing but 20 is a tough number in that final round and some some 20 something is going to be a hard number to get i like that 23 24 he's gonna have to couple extra in his 30-second bonus we've had over 17 miles of home runs hit tonight we've had like a marathon of home runs hit tonight so he's got 30 seconds still to go and he adds 20 to his ridiculous total overall and we've seen this beautiful swing all night but seeing as he clips it a little bit further out front now again just a little bit of fatigue but vlad jr he's a guy he knows exactly what he's doing in the box he's got that toe tap lightning quick hands catching it a little bit out front and just watching it fly see how much further out front he's getting that ball that he was the first few rounds there now he needs his timeout [Music] think about great father-son home run duos in major league baseball barry and bobby bond cecil and prince fielder i mean just what we've witnessed tonight hall of fame dad son shattering records in his first ever home run derby there's something fun about these bi-colored balls they're really cool to watch fly out but the bonus around it is that what they're called their magenta yeah love the t-mobile balls t-mobile helping out little league international in a big big way as vlad guerrero is certainly doing his part 22 and that one would be 23. no get out 22. that's a good number it's a great number it seems like it's a reachable number i think we have drama here it is and you hate to put all of this on the batting practice picture but i got to feel like if pete alonso gets enough strikes in this round he is going to be the champion you want to clap right now on the set for what we just witnessed from vlad guerrero jr in his first home run derby i mean that was unbelievable i mean this guy when you look at 463 feet when you look at 22 home runs 111 is the max velocity and all to the pull side he was getting tired but still made the adjustments to hit him out here's the here's the telling stat on vlad guerrero tonight his total number of home runs tonight is more than four major league teams have hit in the first half of the season giants royals tigers and marlins have not hit 91 home runs me and ryan howard were joking before in our day we were actually home run hitters but you look at these young kids now they have so much more natural power than we do their swings are so much more efficient built for the home run there is no way that we could compete in a derby like this you know you throw out some of the stats the winners are hitting three in the final round in years past we're completely bowing through the record books everything has changed and it's changed this year and it's changed tonight pete alonso when we come back [Music] i love the number that alonso's gonna shoot for like if you were to set an over under it is an ideal number because it's within reach it's not easy it's not 30 it's a good number for pete alonso who has only been required to hit 34 to advance to the final think about vlad who's got 91 homers 30 more than the prior record vlad guerrero jr 30 more than the prior record get him a pillow get him some sheets and let him shut it well pete alonso came into this event he said it was a bucket list moment for his career he had a plan with his cousin he was going to map out exactly what they were going to do and now he's here all he's got to do is hit 23. i think all he's got to do but with the amount of home runs we've seen hit and how he's starting this round it can easily happen it sure can [Applause] there's a little bit of adrenaline going on here because these are definitely long and they are not all being pulled well they're definitely being the pitchers are being thrown before the ball lands i think we're way past that rule you know what let the guys play let the kids have fun the crowd wants to see the rapid fire they want to see the home runs [Applause] and everybody's done it by the way he's got six home runs peter wanza who leads the national league and as far as rookies go in every single category are you talking about an amazing first half of the season i mean it's not for yelich and bellinger we'd be talking about a leading candidate for the mvp in his rookie year in city field which is not a hitter's park traditionally legion home runs rbi slugging on base double service everything we'll take a timeout with them here's my question carl one of these guys is going to win a million dollars is it like in golf where the caddy gets ten percent of the win i mean the batting practice pitcher gonna get ten percent of these winnings both of these guys are minimum wage guys and he has yet to get his bonus now this one could be that's well over four four yeah that's gonna be the first you like the pace he's on here nine two thirty to go he's on a nice pace two home runs ago he hit it 459 he needs one more over 440 to get that bonus i think if he gets that bonus we're going to see the winner right here brad guerrero waits he's got 22 he's in the clubhouse derby then of course was won by aaron judge a couple years ago and a lot of people in new york have at least raised the question sort of long term you investing in judge you investing in alonzo don't make me answer that question because i find the money to invest in both of these guys i mean you talk about a city of new york that rallies around their superstars and their power hitters i want both of these guys in pin stripes for the long haul halfway now more than halfway as that one will get out here in left field still only one at 440. so that clock is at 138 and he's not yet with the 30 extra seconds falling a little bit behind the pace and he still has another timeout and we've seen guys take time out and really get on a run so look to see what that last minute or so is going to do for pete alonso 15 home runs need seven to tie still only one traveled 440. there's one that sneaks over the wall here's another one i think that ball's over 440 right there [Applause] 4 58 oh my goodness he's got his bonus time looking good right he's got 18 home runs there's his timeout he is in such a good position right now a minute two remaining he's got his bonus look at him he knows he knows he's in a good spot right here he came here with the intent of winning he already told us which charities he was going to donate five percent of his money to and he is on the verge of doing it pete alonso both feet on the ground aerial coverage high up in the air above progressive stadium it's provided by goodyear with superior performing tires that knock it out of the park goodyear more driven when this field was announced a week ago paul i told you without question pete alonso is the leader going into this thing and the reason is as you see here right field center field it doesn't matter where you all he has to do is make solid contact and the ball is going to get out he is on his way to a championship right he is sure on his way he likely will not need that bonus time he needs two to tie vlad guerrero that one's gonna come up short and right and this one's gonna go foul so 29 seconds to hit two that was a line drive off the top of the wall fires the bat up he's your home run derby champion of 2019. [Applause] what a show we saw tonight vlad jr and alonzo what a respect right there nothing but love that was fun [Music] the former florida gator and his brother if you will who came over here from ohio and pitched himself to a derby championship that is a smile that will not come off anytime soon he's the champion instead of a belt you get a chain the derby champ pete you did it how much fun was that that was a blast oh my god that was a blast so i'm gonna remember that for the rest of my life so you watched the home run derby growing up as a kid yeah how much does this mean that you pulled this off this means so much um i mean there's there's a lot i was i was playing or hitting for tonight i'm just so happy that i could uh don't i'm just so excited i'm just happy that i could donate some money to the causes that i want to do i want to do donate five percent of this money to the wounded warriors and five percent uh to tunnels to towers i mean i have the utmost respect for the people that put their lives on the line every single day and i just want to show my gratitude because a bad day for me is a lot of is a lot different than a bad day for the service men and women that serve this country how about the show put on by vladimir junior tonight oh my god that was that was so fun to watch i'm just i'm i'm happy i didn't face him in the early rounds because he probably would have knocked me out but i mean i i gotta take my cap i mean he's a hell of a hitter and uh he's gonna have a really long career i mean it's unbelievable pete derek congratulations carl back to you there is such joy on the face of pete alonso and his best friend and brother eric morgan that's what it looked like we saw harper twohand flip it alonzo just goes one hand and fires the bat in the air this was a huge relief i mean he made the pledge to those two charities long before this derby began and he delivered on a promise and how about this i mean let's hear it for t-mobile how many boys and girls are gonna do are going to benefit from a total donation of 642 000 to little league international and we talk about how important baseball is to our communities and to be able to have a guy like pete alonso come out there before the derby even started and talk about i'm going to donate a portion of my winnings to a couple great charities to have t-mobile donate over 600 000 to little league international we are more than just baseball players we are ambassadors for so many different people lifting up communities man this was fun to watch what a night what a night for alonzo what a night for that guy vlad guerrero jr jock peterson congratulations what a show he put on all the participants winners tonight the fans here in cleveland winners tonight those that watched on either espn or espn2 are listened on espn radio winners tonight for jess mendoza buster only mark to share up i'm carl ravitch can't thank you enough for joining us on this special night congrats again to the polar bear pete alonso

Channel: MLB

Views: 2,210,265

Keywords: mlb, mlb highlights, mlb classic, classic games, mlb classic games, pete alonso, vlad jr, vladimir guerrero jr, pete alonso vlad jr, alonso home run derby, vlad jr home run derby

Id: aonObrLi6uc

Length: 141min 49sec (8509 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 21 2020