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Bregman Participating in Home Run Derby

Posted at 10:47 PM, Jul 11, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-11 23:47:46-04

PRESS RELEASE

Six-time National League All-Star Bryce Harper of the host Washington Nationals and Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman, the top vote-getter in the NL, are among the eight participants in the 2018 T-Mobile Home Run Derby, it was announced tonight on ESPN.  The 2018 T-Mobile Home Run Derby will be held on Monday, July 16th at Nationals Park in Washington, DC, and broadcast live by ESPN and MLB.com beginning at 8:00 p.m. (ET).

The annual showcase also features Milwaukee Brewers first baseman and number one seed Jesús Aguilar; Chicago Cubs second baseman Javier Báez; Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman; Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Rhys Hoskins; Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Max Muncy; and Cubs outfielder Kyle Schwarber.  Seeding was determined by each participant’s home run total through Tuesday’s games. Ties were broken by awarding the higher seed to the player who reached his current home run total first.

In the opening round, Aguilar (23 home runs) will square off against the eight seed Hoskins (14 home runs); Harper (22 home runs) will be the two seed and face the seventh-seeded Freeman (16 home runs); Muncy (21 home runs), the number three seed, matches up against the six seed Báez (17 home runs); and the fourth-seeded Bregman (19 home runs) will square off with Schwarber (17 home runs), the event’s number five seed.  See the accompanying file for the full 2018 T-Mobile Home Run Derby bracket.

Harper will be participating in his second career Derby, while each of the other seven participants will be participating in their first Derby.  Additionally, the 25-year-old Harper will become the 22nd player from a host team to participate in the Derby.  Overall, it marks the sixth consecutive year for the Derby to feature a hometown competitor.  The others include David Wright at Citi Field in 2013, Brian Dozier at Target Field in 2014, Todd Frazier at Great American Ball Park in 2015, Wil Myers at Petco Park in 2016 and Justin Bour and Giancarlo Stanton at Marlins Park in 2017.  The 25-year-old Harper, who is the only player in Nationals history to take part in the event, hit 24 total homers during his 2013 Derby appearance at Citi Field in New York, advancing to the final round, where he was edged out, 9-8, by Oakland’s Yoenis Céspedes.

Freeman will become the first Braves player to compete in the Derby since Andruw Jones in 2005.  Overall, he joins Dale Murphy (1985), Ozzie Virgil (1987), David Justice (1993), Fred McGriff (1994), 2018 Hall of Fame inductee Chipper Jones (1997-98, 2000), Javy Lopez (1998), Gary Sheffield (2003) and Jones as Braves representatives in the event. 

Báez and Schwarber will become the 18th pair of teammates to enter the same Derby, and the second pair of Cubs teammates to do so, joining their teammates Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, who each participated in 2015 at Cincinnati.  In addition to Bryant and Rizzo, the duo of Báez and Schwarber join Hall of Famers Ryne Sandberg (1985, 1990) and Andre Dawson (1987), as well as George Bell (1991) and Sammy Sosa (1995, 1999-2002, 2004) as previous Cubs to participate.

Muncy gives the Dodgers a player in the Derby for the fifth consecutive year and the seventh time in eight years.  Other Dodgers to participate include Hall of Famer Mike Piazza (1993-94), Raul Mondesi (1995) and Hee-Seop Choi (2005), as well as Muncy’s teammates Matt Kemp (2011-12), Yasiel Puig (2014), Joc Pederson (2015), Corey Seager (2016) and Cody Bellinger (2017).

Bregman is the fifth different Astros player to take part in a Derby, joining Glenn Davis (1989), Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell (1994, 1996-97, 1999), Moises Alou (1998) and Lance Berkman (2002, 2004, 2006, 2008).  Hoskins will become the fifth different Phillies player to compete, joining 2018 Hall of Fame inductee Jim Thome (2004), Bobby Abreu (2005), Ryan Howard (2006-07, 2009) and Chase Utley (2008).  Aguilar is the ninth different Brewers representative in a Derby, joining Greg Vaughn (1996), Jeremy Burnitz (1999), Richie Sexson (2002-03), Carlos Lee (2005), Prince Fielder (2007, 2009, 2011), Ryan Braun (2008), Corey Hart (2010) and Rickie Weeks (2011).

For the third consecutive year, the T-Mobile Home Run Derby Bracket Challenge gives fans a chance to predict the results of the Derby at Nationals Park. Beginning on July 11th, fans can enter at www.MLB.com/bracketchallenge
.  One perfect bracket will receive a trip for four to Game One of the 2018 World Series presented by YouTube TV and a $500 Mastercard gift card. Fans can submit their picks through 7:59 p.m. ET on July 16th.

In addition to coverage on ESPN and MLB.com, the 2018 T-Mobile Home Run Derby will be broadcast live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and the ESPN App.  ESPN2 will simulcast the event in Spanish via ESPN Deportes’ live coverage.  The Derby will also air on ESPN Radio and ESPN Deportes Radio.  For more information, please visit www.allstargame.com.