Overview
- MLB announced Thursday that the July 13 Home Run Derby at Citizens Bank Park will abandon the timer and use a fixed-swing system for the first time since 2014.
- Under the new rules each hitter gets 20 swings in Round 1 and 15 swings in the semifinal and final, and a batter who homers on his final allotted swing may continue until he records a non-home-run swing.
- The field stays at eight players with the top four first-round totals advancing, semifinal pairings seeded No. 1 vs. No. 4 and No. 2 vs. No. 3, first-round ties broken by longest homer and later ties decided by three-swing tiebreakers.
- Netflix will stream the Derby for the first time under its new MLB deal, and multiple reports say the streamer solicited production feedback that helped prompt the format change.
- Reported payouts include $1 million for the winner, $500,000 for the runner-up, $150,000 for other participants and $100,000 for the longest homer, Cal Raleigh enters as the defending champion, and the eight participants have not yet been announced.