As the final swing of the 2024 Home Run Derby sent the ball soaring into nighttime Globe Life Field, Bobby Witt Jr.’s eyes narrowed and Teoscar Hernández held his breath. An otherwise ordinary Derby was suddenly headed toward a dramatic conclusion where a few feet mattered.
As the ball finally bounced off Witt’s bat and into the base of the center field fence, a sigh of disappointment was heard and Hernandez raised his arms in victory. In the Derby final, Hernandez beat Witt by a narrow margin, 14 home runs to 13, just as he had survived a swing-off in the semifinals to win by one home run.
A beloved teammate and constant source of strength for the past decade, the 31-year-old Hernandez became the first Los Angeles Dodgers player to win the Derby. He went home with a million dollars in prize money, a medal that read “Derby Champ” and more pride than he could ever match, competing against arguably the best young stars and more than matching him swing for swing.
“It doesn`t matter who I’m going against. I’m going to bet on myself,” said Hernández, who entered the Derby with the sixth-longest odds of the eight-man field. “People maybe underestimate me. You can see it at the end when Witt was hitting all those homers. Everybody was shooting for him. But I’m [as] talented as all those guys over there. They might be younger, but same talent.”
Witt, a shortstop for the Kansas City Royals who grew up 20 minutes from Globe Life Field, won the High School Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game in Washington, D.C. Six years ago, he seemed poised to win the Derby title again on Monday, but the event’s new format allowed players to watch up to 40 pitches in three minutes and hit as many home runs as they could before missing three in a bonus round. The number of pitches was reduced to 27 in two minutes.
In his first Derby appearance, Hernández became the seventh player from the Dominican Republic to win the event. By the middle of the final lap, he was hot and had a big lead over Witt, who had struggled early in the lap.
By the end, Witt had hit 11 home runs and hit the ball 425 feet in bonus time for an extra out.
“I was nervous,” Hernández said.
It made sense that they would be nervous, especially after the final swing. Witt smashed a ball toward center field after his brother-in-law James Russell, a former Chicago Cubs reliever, threw to him.
For home run contests, it’s usually a dead zone, but Witt hit it well enough to persuade many of the 38,578 spectators that he had tied Hernández.
“I thought I had a chance when I hit it,” Witt stated, “but I saw it was just a little bit too high.”
Hernández was wearing his Toronto Blue Jays uniform when he celebrated with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., his former teammate and 2023 Derby winner. Here, Hernández blossomed into the kind of potent danger the Dodgers desired this winter, signing him to a one-year contract as a free agent to bolster Los Angeles’ powerful lineup with Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman.
Hernández is scheduled to start in the middle of the National League game on Tuesday, but he was invited to play for a team that lacked the star power of the past decade’s Derby, which has seen players like Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper and Juan Soto win. Hernández barely made it to the semifinals, landing in the first round behind Philadelphia third baseman Alec Bohm, Cleveland third baseman Jose Ramírez and Witt. Two-time Derby winner Pete Alonso retired with just 12 home runs, while Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna, Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson and hometown hero Adolis Garcia of the Texas Rangers all fell one short of Hernández’s 19.
In the semifinals, Hernández and Bohm tied with 14 home runs each, exceeding the allotted 40 pitches and bonus time. Hernandez was the beneficiary of pinpoint pitching from Dodgers coach Dino Ebel, a veteran of several Home Run Derby contests, in a three-hit, winner-take-all extra innings game.
Hernández hit home runs on his second and third outs. Bohm hit the second pitch into the left field stands, but his third hit landed softly in the outfield grass.
“I do this every day,” Ebel said. “That’s my job. I always joke around with the players: My job is to get lit up in batting practice. I just got to know where they like it.”
Witt was waiting for him; Witt has always respected Hernández for being a versatile player with the ability to change games.
“I knew every time he playing he`s got crazy juice to all parts of field,” Witt said. “So, it was cool to see him do that.”
Many others agreed. The conclusion kept everyone on edge on a night without any long home runs (Ozuna hit the furthest at 473 feet) or rounds with large totals.
It also paved the way for Guerrero’s possible comeback the following year, assuming his friend—the new champion—looks for a repeat.
“If Teoscar does it,” Guerrero declared to Alden Gonzalez of ESPN. “I’m in.”