6 sluggers named for tiebreaker swing-off if tonight's ASG ends in tie

PHILADELPHIA – Could there be a swing-off encore at this year’s All-Star Game?

If so, rising Cardinals star Jordan Walker has quite the opportunity to make headlines again after winning Monday’s Home Run Derby with a spectacular comeback in the finals against Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber.

Schwarber won the first-ever swing-off last season in Atlanta after the 2025 Midsummer Classic was locked in a 6-6 tie through nine innings. Schwarber homered on all three of his swings, a powerful enough performance to make him MVP of the All-Star Game.

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Each league picks three participants for the swing-off ahead of time in the event of a tie.

AL manager John Schneider has selected Munetaka Murakami (White Sox), Willson Contreras (Red Sox) and Randy Arozarena (Mariners) as his trio.

Walker will be joined on the NL side by James Wood (Nationals) and Hunter Goodman (Rockies) as the choices of manager Dave Roberts.

Goodman, who is third in the NL with 27 homers, enjoyed seeing Schwarber’s unprecedented ending to last year’s Midsummer Classic.

“That was a really fun way to end the game. These All-Star Games, pitchers throw one inning so you don’t have enough guys to go extra innings,” Goodman said. “It’s a really entertaining way and a really fun way to end the game.”

Schwarber still has fond memories a year later.

“It was just a lot of fun and I could feel the energy from the fans there and your teammates on the side who all came out cheering and jumping,” said Schwarber. “Definitely something that was cool.”

The new format was negotiated as part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement that went into effect in 2022 and will be in place for at least the duration of the CBA, which runs through the end of this ‘26 season.

Here's how it works:

Each player gets three swings, and the team with the highest combined homer total after those three rounds is declared the winner of the game.

Play is briefly paused after the ninth inning to allow the grounds crew to reconfigure the field. Each player who participates gets three swings to hit as many home runs as possible. Each player may take an unlimited number of pitches without it counting against their swing total.

Players on each team may hit in any order, with the two teams alternating. The visiting team hits first and the home team second. Once all six participants have completed their swings, the team with the most total home runs shall be declared the winner of the All-Star Game. In the event of a tie, each manager shall select one of the participating players to take three swings to break the tie. This head-to-head format will continue until the tie is broken. The manager is permitted to select a different batter to participate in subsequent head-to-head rounds, as long as he was one of the original three participants (or the alternate in the event of an injury).

The team that wins the swing-off is declared the winner by one run, and there is no winning or losing pitcher.

Before the swing-off format went into effect, the All-Star Game had gone to extra innings 13 times, most recently the 2018 game at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., which was won by the AL, 8-6, in 10 innings.