July 13, 2026
Kyle Ross/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Kyle Schwarber put on a show Monday in his home ballpark.
Is hitting a baseball the hardest thing to do in sports?
A Google search will tell you it is, and for anyone who has tried to hit a 98 MPH fastball, you probably concur. But if you were at Citizens Bank Park Monday night, or watching Netflix from home, it looked pretty damn easy.
Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber came just short of winning the 2026 Home Run Derby, an event with as much Philly flavor as the event could possibly have had. He started a little slow, easing into the second round before his 11 homers were bested by one by Cardinals star Jordan Walker, who walked off with the title.
Still, it was one of the most electric and enjoyable sporting exhibitions I've ever been to, and I decided to hand out some hardware after the event (h/t Jimmy Kempski for patenting this idea for Eagles games).
He hit 10 in Round 1, nine in Round 2, and just when most normal human beings would be running on fumes, he pummeled 11 homers in the final round before Walker went deep over and over again down to his last licks.
It comes as absolutely no surprise that Schwarber got as far as he did. He leads Major League Baseball with 32 homers at the break and exactly one year ago he won All-Star Game MVP after hitting three homers on three pitches in the first ever sudden death "swing off."
There shouldn't have been any doubt, and after yet another incredible Schwarber performance in South Philly, there is no doubt whatsoever that he's the top slugger in the sport right now. Though Walker might have something to say about that now (despite trailing Schwarber with 22 regular season dingers).
It was a fast start for long home runs, as Willson Contreras hit a first round bomb to the top of Harry the K's the Ghost Energy deck in left field. The 490-foot blast was bested in the second round by Junior Caminero, just minutes before he was eliminated by one foot.
490!!!! #HRDerby pic.twitter.com/1wMj2hnngZ
— MLB (@MLB) July 14, 2026
The longest homer hit in an actual ballgame at Citizens Bank Park was in 2021, off the bat of then-Red Sox outfielder Franchy Cordero, who has a career .217 batting average and has never hit more than eight homers in a season. He hit a ball 474 feet. The longest Phillies homer in CBP came last September from Schwarber, totaling 468 feet.
Five of the 10 longest regular season homers at CBP were hit by either Schwarber or Bryce Harper.
The hometown favorite was held for last in the opening round, with Harper needing 10 homers to beat out teammate Schwarber for the final spot in the second round. He fell short, only mustering eight — though he did hit a 482-foot moonshot over the bullpens into Ashburn Alley. But disappointingly for the Philly faithful, they wouldn't have the chance to see their two sluggers duel for the derby crown.
The title sponsor of the Derby — T Mobile — presented a pink-striped baseball that the players hit with one out remaining. The gimmick for the ball was that a player gets to keep going if he hit a home run with it until he makes an out. But under the bright lights, the ball was clearly hard to see, as only one home run was hit until the final round. Besides that it was all pop ups.
And then Walker figured it out. He hit six consecutive homers to win the event, five of them with the Magenta Ball. It created the theatre it was intended to create and broke Phillies fans hearts along the way.
The ABS system of challenging pitches seems to be a success. And in some time during our lifetimes, it seems likely that robo umps will call balls and strikes in Major League Baseball games. So I posit the question: Why don't they just use a pitching machine to automate and equalize the Home Run Derby?
Each player brings his own derby pitcher — Harper tagged Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel, while Schwarber relied on Phils assistant hitting coach Rafael Pena. Some players had bullpen catchers, or bench coaches. Ben Rice and Jac Caglianone even had their dads do it (and they both failed to advance). There was an abundance of taking pitches.
But that means, of course, that the playing field isn't fair. In one way or another, there are varying degrees of accuracy and chemistry between derby pitcher and hitter. Is the intent for it to be a team competition? Or is it for the field to determine the best de facto under-pressure home run hitter? Think about it, MLB. It might make a more equal playing field.
I initially wanted to document which of the two Phillies sluggers was the fan favorite. But as early as the (extremely awkward boxing themed) introductions, it was clear that the home crowd wasn't only pulling for Schwarber and Harper, they were booing ferociously every other hitter.
I haven't been to other Home Run Derbies in person to know if this is normal or not, but the boos were positively deafening — with poor Yankee Ben Rice getting the brunt of the disrespect.
Bryce Harper wants you to know that the @TMobile #HRDerby is ABOUT TO START 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/x4K6W5Ezor
— MLB (@MLB) July 14, 2026
The fans also got on whomever was standing in the way of a Phillies slugger, most notably Contreras, who needed nine homers to eliminate Schwarber. The crowd did its job (as did the Magenta Ball), as he fell just one short. They also made Walker's life tough in the final, cheering for every ball that fell short of the fence.
It didn't stop there. A group of teenagers were in the outfield shagging non-homers all night and, well, the fans were on them too.
Philly is booing the kids shagging flies in the outfield, I am crying 😭😂
— Dustin Gouker (@DustinGouker) July 14, 2026
What a perfect venue for a home run derby. The short left field porch. The scoreboard porch, which was peppered by homers from righty hitters. Ashburn Alley. The evergreen and vines in the hitter's eye. It's known as a hitters park among MLB stadiums and it really was a beautiful and boisterous host with character and Philly flavor to boot.
Harper and Schwarber have been in a derby together before — and it actually included then-Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins, too, at Nationals Park in 2018.
Schwarber, then with the curse-ending Cubs, blasted an insane 55 total home runs and held a big lead heading into the finals, head to head with Nationals outfielder Harper. The soon-to-be Phillie (he signed there a year later) closed a huge deficit to win one of the more dramatic events in HR Derby history.
Harper last participated in that 2018 Home Run Derby eight years go, when he was 25. In his media session Monday he admitted he never intended to do it again. But you know, how can you say no to Philly?
“That's the reason why I wanted to do it,’’ Harper said. “I just wanted to enjoy it, just have fun. In 2018, I never wanted to do it again. But obviously, being here in Philly kind of changed my mind on that. This this will be my last one, no matter what."
There was a full slate of events on Sunday, too, a twin-bill starting with the All-Star Futures Game (that saw both Phillies prospects participating surrender runs in a NL loss) and finishing with the unexpectedly entertaining 3-on-3 MLBx competition. Team's led by Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino, Jimmy Rollins and Andruw Jones faced off in was essentially an MLB The Show mini-game combined with a home run derby.
The star of the show was the 45-year-old former Phillies outfielder, who also was one of the managers for the Futures Game.
way, WAY gone from Shane Victorino 🚀
— MLBx (@MLBXofficial) July 12, 2026
(MLB x @oiochakun) pic.twitter.com/Vq2iQxSALi
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