Two local stars impressed at the MLB’s 2021 Home Run Derby on Monday night.
Nationals outfielder Juan Soto, the lowest seed (8) in the competition, eliminated number-one ranked Shohei Ohtani in the first round while Orioles first baseman Trey Mancini advanced to the finals and nearly stopped Pete Alonso from repeating.
Soto hit the longest home run in Home Run Derby history, a 520-foot bomb dinger to the upper deck of Coors Field.
Soto had the unenviable task of matching up against “Shotime” in the first round. The Angels DH has hit 33 home runs so far this season, most in the major leagues, and is the first player in MLB history to be voted into an All-Star Game as both a player and a pitcher. He will be the American League’s starting pitcher and bat first on Tuesday night.
Soto, who has huge power but not shown much pop this season (12 home runs), quickly found his groove with Nationals’ hitting coach Kevin Long pitching. Soto’s sixth homer in the first round went 520 feet, breaking the all-time Statcast distance record.
Juan Soto is 22 years old.
He hit the longest HR ever tracked at the HR Derby, with an estimated distance of 520 feet. #Coors#HRDerby // #NATITUDE pic.twitter.com/yUu4olaOgt
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) July 13, 2021
Soto hit 18 homers in the three-minute regulation and hit four more in his one-minute bonus period, including one moonshot that went 504 feet, for 22 total.
After a clutch Ohtani matched Soto’s total, the 22-year-old World Series-winner homered six more times in the bonus round, which included a 500-foot roundtripper. The two stars then went to a double-overtime swingoff (3 swings), where Soto went 3 for 3, eliminating the Japanese star after he grounded out with his first pitch.
Only took 3 minutes plus bonus time plus extra bonus time plus a swing-off.
Helluva Sho put on by two FACES OF @MLB.#HRDerby // #NATITUDE pic.twitter.com/E94cMX8kIv
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) July 13, 2021
Soto finished with 31 home runs total. His average home run distance in the first round was 452 feet. The balls had an exit velocity of 107 MPH.
In the second round, an exhausted Soto fell to Pete Alonso, the defending champion of the event. Soto hit only eight home runs in regulation which included a one for 13 dry spell. In bonus time, Soto found his rhythm, hitting seven more home runs, for 15 total. Soto’s longest dinger of the round was a 481-foot rocket.
Alonso quickly eliminated the Nats’ star before his three-minute regulation time concluded to go to advance to the finals against Trey Mancini. Soto hit 46 home runs total in the event.
Mancini, who is in his first year back since recovering from stage 3 colon cancer, hit 22 home runs in the final, putting pressure on Alonso to perform. But after Alonso hit 17 home runs in the two-minute regulation, the Mets’ star homered on all six of his bonus round swings to take the title and $1 million prize.
Headline photo: Ian Oland/RMNB
