{"id":762837,"date":"2026-07-14T18:20:04","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T18:20:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/762837\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T18:20:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T18:20:04","slug":"jordan-walker-announces-himself-in-hr-derby-thriller-plus-all-star-game-still-has-potential","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/762837\/","title":{"rendered":"Jordan Walker announces himself in HR Derby thriller. Plus: All-Star Game still has potential"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Windup Newsletter \u26be | This is The Athletic\u2019s MLB<\/a> newsletter. Sign up here<\/a> to receive The Windup directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

If they wanted to sell us on the new format, I\u2019m not sure there could have been a better Home Run Derby to make the pitch.<\/p>\n

Plus: I found the funniest Home Run Derby of all time, Tyler Kepner asks the All-Stars about the CBA and \u2026 is it becoming the Some-Stars Game?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m Levi Weaver \u2014 welcome to The Windup!<\/p>\n

Home Run Derby: Walker\u2019s walk-off win stuns Philly<\/p>\n

Now\u00a0that\u00a0was a great Home Run Derby.<\/p>\n

And it was a perfect way to showcase the not-over-till-it\u2019s-over format. In an event designed to highlight the home run,\u00a0Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker won it<\/a>\u00a0on the most exciting kind: a walk-off.<\/p>\n

From the get-go, Walker\u2019s easy swing made for a fun contrast in style to Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras, whose violent twists looked more like attempts to fracture the sky. Coincidentally, both finished the first round tied for first with 13 home runs.<\/p>\n

The drama of the night started when Phillies teammates Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper were up to bat (which was last) in the first round. As fate would have it, Schwarber hit 10 home runs to rank fourth \u2014 with only four hitters advancing \u2014 and only Harper yet to hit.\u00a0It was going to be one or the other,\u00a0and Harper ultimately came up short with eight, bowing out in the first round along with Ben Rice, Munetaka Murakami and Jac Caglianone.<\/p>\n

After beating Contreras and Junior Caminero head-to-head in Round 2,\u00a0it was Schwarber and Walker in the final round. Schwarber went first and found his groove almost immediately, finishing with 11 home runs.<\/p>\n

That was a tall order for Walker, who hit just six home runs in his first 12 swings. But then came the magic. It went like this:<\/p>\n

Swing 13: home run (No. 7)
Swing 14: home run (No. 8)<\/p>\n

From this point on, he was down to his last swing. In a new rule this year, as long as Walker kept hitting home runs, he was still allowed to swing. Anything less, and it was over.<\/p>\n

Swing 15: home run (No. 9)
Swing 16: home run (No. 10)
Swing 17: home run (No. 11)
Swing 18: walk-off home run<\/p>\n

With the win,\u00a0Walker gets a check for $1 million \u2014 his salary this year is $799,400 \u2014\u00a0and\u00a0a custom-made winner\u2019s chain<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Schwarber, meanwhile, was gracious about the loss, saying: \u201cWalk just went nuts, man. That was amazing to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

More Derby:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Middle Relief: All-Stars sound off on CBA negotiations<\/p>\n

Kepner was at media day in Philadelphia yesterday and asked some All-Stars\u00a0what was important to them<\/a>\u00a0in the ongoing CBA negotiations. Here are what a few All-Stars said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Justin Verlander, Tigers:\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m really worried about it, to be frank, because the game is, in my opinion, in a really great place. Viewership is doing great, the fanbases are responding.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think some of the changes that were implemented \u2014 the pitch clock has been fantastic for the game. I personally don\u2019t love the strike zone, the ABS, but the fans want to see it. We get the calls right and we need to compete with the other leagues that have replay and challenge systems. So I think it\u2019s been a good, seamless transition.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, the game\u2019s in a good place and I would hate to see that get disrupted and lose momentum that we have and the opportunity that we had to continue to grow the sport. I mean, you see the star power that we have and franchise values are (rising). There\u2019s so many reasons why\u00a0I think a real work stoppage and losing games would be detrimental.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nick Martinez, Rays:\u00a0\u201cI think it\u2019s important to preserve the right to reach free agency, and be able to take advantage of all the hard work that it took for you to get to that point. It\u2019s not easy to do and it seems like every year it gets harder to get to that point.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s a direct correlation (between payrolls and winning).\u00a0You look at the Dodgers and they spend the most money, but that\u2019s not the only thing they do.\u00a0They have a culture, they have a way of going about their business. They also sign guys that hold themselves to that standard of being absolute professionals and playing the game the right way.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo yeah, they go out and get the biggest names in free agency a lot of years and we don\u2019t \u2014 and we win ballgames, too. So I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a direct correlation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read Kepner\u2019s full story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

History Lesson: The most amusing Derby of all time?<\/p>\n

A side thread on our\u00a0Home Run Derby live blog<\/a>\u00a0led me to think:\u00a0Which players hit zero home runs in a Derby?\u00a0It hasn\u2019t happened in quite a while \u2014 2014, when Yasiel Puig asked Robinson Can\u00f3\u2019s dad to pitch to him (which was a bad choice \u2014 Jose Can\u00f3 had shut out his own son just two years prior).<\/p>\n

But the research led me to something I had to share: The most hilarious Home Run Derby of all time.\u00a0The year was 1990, and if you want star power, check out the names that participated and what they scored:<\/p>\n

Bobby Bonilla: zero home runs
Jose Canseco: zero home runs
Cecil Fielder: zero home runs
Ken Griffey Jr.: zero home runs
Mark McGwire:\u00a0zero\u00a0ONE home run!
Darryl Strawberry: zero home runs
Matt Williams: ONE home run!
Ryne Sandberg: wow, three home runs!!!<\/p>\n

HOW?!<\/p>\n

It turns out there\u2019s a simple answer.\u00a0The derby was at Wrigley Field that year, and the wind was blowing in \u2026\u00a0hard.\u00a0I looked all over for highlights, but all I found\u00a0was this mysterious clip<\/a>\u00a0that mostly features Tony Gwynn talking about candy bars.<\/p>\n

Ironically, this disaster might have been the catalyst for the modern Derby. In those days, batters got two \u201cinnings\u201d of five outs each, and that was the whole shebang (in this case: five home runs, TOTAL).<\/p>\n

In 1991, MLB switched it up to the three-round format. It has evolved a number of times, but we haven\u2019t had anything quite so hilariously low-scoring since.<\/p>\n

Anyway, let\u2019s check and see where next year\u2019s Derby is going to b\u2014 oh, right<\/a>. Wrigley Field. Fun!<\/p>\n

Opinion: I do not think the All-Star Game is cooked<\/p>\n

I stand by\u00a0my comments in yesterday\u2019s edition<\/a>\u00a0that the MLB Draft and Futures Game need fixing, but when it comes to the All-Star Game\u2019s lack of \u201cstar power,\u201d well \u2026 I don\u2019t get to say Ken Rosenthal\u2019s line very often, so \u2026\u00a0from\u00a0my latest column<\/a>:<\/p>\n

(Let\u2019s start with) this hypothetical lineup:<\/p>\n

1. Aaron Judge, RF
2. Shohei Ohtani, DH
3. Jos\u00e9 Ram\u00edrez, 3B
4. Nick Kurtz, 1B
5. Byron Buxton, CF
6. Francisco Lindor, SS
7. Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr., LF
8. Will Smith, C
9. Jose Altuve, 2B<\/p>\n

Now let\u2019s add these nine pitchers for one inning each: Ohtani, Jacob Misiorowski, Tarik Skubal, Paul Skenes, Zack Wheeler, Chase Burns, Ranger Su\u00e1rez, Cam Schlittler and Jacob deGrom.<\/p>\n

Then let\u2019s put Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodr\u00edguez, Michael Harris II, Brice Turang, JJ Wetherholt, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Elly De La Cruz on your bench, and send our apologies to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Max Meyer and Edwin D\u00edaz (and I\u2019m sure I\u2019m leaving a few off).<\/p>\n

Why those players?\u00a0Because none of them will play in tonight\u2019s All-Star Game.\u00a0Some haven\u2019t played well enough to make it, of course. Others are injured, and a handful of starters just happened to have pitched on Sunday. But that\u2019s a lot of star power we won\u2019t see at the game.<\/p>\n

It raises the question:\u00a0Is the Midsummer Classic starting to turn into the Some-Stars Game?<\/p>\n

There\u2019s an argument for that, sure. But the fans voted in Ernie Clement, so unless you want to ditch that tradition, he stays. (We should not ditch that tradition.)<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t an entirely new issue. In 2011,\u00a0Derek Jeter drew attention<\/a>\u00a0for choosing not to participate in that year\u2019s All-Star Game, citing a desire to rest his calf muscle and help the Yankees in the second half of the season. Altuve must have been paying attention. He hasn\u2019t played in the exhibition since the 2017 trash-can scandal, using similar reasoning: Every year, some previously unreported nagging injury would suddenly require rest over the break (he was actually on the IL in 2023).<\/p>\n

For the rest \u2014 spoiler: I think the game is imperfect, but still very good \u2014 click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Handshakes and High Fives<\/p>\n

Bryce Harper finally made a statement about a Cameo video he made that FanDuel sent to a gambling addict, saying he was completely\u00a0unaware of what it was going to be used for<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The catcher who has caught Justin Verlander more than any other tells us\u00a0what makes the pitcher special<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Patrick Mooney sits down for a conversation with MVP candidate Pete Crow-Armstrong about his career up to this point<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Katie Woo\u00a0shadowed Dave Roberts yesterday<\/a>, and the Dodgers manager walked us through all his responsibilities at the All-Star Game.<\/p>\n

No longer a \u201ckiiiid,\u201d Mike Trout is now in a new role among his fellow All-Stars:\u00a0an elder statesman<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now famous in Japan, the\u00a0visiting clubhouse cheesesteaks in Philadelphia<\/a>\u00a0are a known entity around the league.<\/p>\n

The A\u2019s\u00a0fired longtime pitching coach<\/a>\u00a0Scott Emerson.<\/p>\n

Most-clicked in our last Windup:\u00a0Our\u00a0Day 1 Draft coverage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udceb Love The Windup? Check out\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s other newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Windup Newsletter \u26be | This is The Athletic\u2019s MLB newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Windup…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":762838,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99],"class_list":["post-762837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=762837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/762838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=762837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=762837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=762837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}