Everything to know about 2026 Home Run Derby in Philadelphia
The top sluggers in baseball will compete at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia tonight in the 2026 MLB Home Run Derby.
Here's everything you need to know as the derby returns to South Philly for the first time in 30 years.
When does the Home Run Derby start?
This year's Home Run Derby will begin at 8 p.m. It will be broadcast live on Netflix, with coverage beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern.
Who's in the Home Run Derby in 2026?
Here's the full list of participants in the 2026 Home Run Derby:
- Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia Phillies
- Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies
- Junior Caminero, Tampa Bay Rays
- Ben Rice, New York Yankees
- Munetaka Murakami, Chicago White Sox
- Jac Caglianone, Kansas City Royals
- Willson Contreras, Boston Red Sox
- Jordan Walker, St. Louis Cardinals
Home Run Derby format
The format has changed for the 2026 Home Run Derby.
Instead of trying to hit as many homers as possible during timed rounds, which is the way it's been since 2015, batters will now start each round with a finite number of swings.
Participants will have 20 swings in the first round, 15 swings in the second round and 15 in the final round. Every swing will count to the player's allotment, whether it results in a home run or not. But players who homer on their final swing of a round will keep swinging until he records an out, which is any swing that does not produce a home run.
The top four players from the first round will advance to the semifinals, where they'll be seeded based on their home run totals (No. 1 vs. No. 4 and No. 2 vs. No. 3).
If there's a tie in the first round, it will be broken by home run distance. The player with the longest home run hit among the tied participants will advance.
But in the semifinals and finals, there will be more drama. Ties in the final two rounds will be broken by three-swing swing-offs to decide a winner.
Harper and Schwarber already went head-to-head in a HR Derby. Could it happen again?
In 2018, Harper and Schwarber weren't Phillies teammates yet, but the two battled in the finals of the Home Run Derby at Nationals Park.
Schwarber hit 18 home runs in the final, but then Harper rallied and hit a barrage of homers to win the 2018 Home Run Derby in his then-hometown ballpark, 19-18.
With a win Monday night, Harper would become the first player to win the Home Run Derby in his home ballpark twice. Todd Frazier in 2015 and Ryne Sandberg at Wrigley Field in 1990 are the only two players to win the derby at their home ballparks. It would be right on cue for The Showman.
Schwarber, of course, could join Harper, Frazier and Sandberg if he wins Monday night.
What happened in the last Home Run Derby in Philadelphia?
The last Home Derby in Philadelphia featured two of baseball's all-time greatest sluggers going head-to-head in the finals.
In the 1996 Home Run Derby at Veterans Stadium, Barry Bonds beat Mark McGwire and won the competition.
Bonds trailed by two homers with one out left against McGwire in the finals. He then homered on three straight swings to win the only Home Run Derby of his career.
What happened in last year's Home Run Derby?
In the Home Run Derby in 2025, Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh defeated Caminero in the finals, 18-15.
Raleigh was lucky to make it out of the first round of the derby when he advanced on a longest home run tiebreaker, which he won by less than an inch.
