Blue Jays' Parker goes from last-minute sub to Fall League HR Derby champ

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Blue Jays outfielder/catcher Aaron Parker was enjoying his Friday night off after playing an Arizona Fall League day game, watching a movie with teammates when his phone rang at 10:30 p.m.

Chase Harlan (LAD No. 9) had to pull out of the AFL Home Run Derby scheduled for the next evening. Might Parker be interested in taking his place?

"I said, yeah, of course," Parker said. "It's an amazing experience, so it was a no-brainer for me. I had to tell my dad, 'We're not going out to dinner. We're going to go try to hit as many home runs as possible.'"

Parker hit enough to win the entire event. He needed just three swings to best Tai Peete (STL No. 17), 2-1, in the finals, capping his day with a 477-foot shot to left-center field.

Though Parker never had participated in a home run derby before, he's a natural. He hits balls harder than almost any player in the Minors, with his 90th percentile exit velocities averaging 107.9 mph this season to rank in the top 1 percent.

Parker didn't have an easy path to victory. First he had to face Alex McCoy (SD No. 26), who might be the most physically imposing player in the Fall League at 6-foot-5, 260 pounds. McCoy hit the longest ball of the day, a 503-foot shot, but Parker defeated him, 12-7, and tied Rockies catcher Jack O'Dowd for the most homers in the first round.

That set up a semifinal matchup against Royals catcher Brooks Bryan, who batted first and homered five times. Parker went deep just once in his first five swings before calling timeout, then added just one homer in his next four tries. Down to his final two outs, he rallied with three mammoth blasts to advance to the finals.

"Just never take your foot off the gas," said Parker, a 2024 sixth-rounder from UC Santa Barbara who's slashing .356/.483/.511 in 12 games for the Mesa Solar Sox. "I hit one homer dead-center and I kind of felt something go right with my swing. So I was like, all right, took a deep breath, got back in the box and went back to work."

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Peete was on a roll heading into the finals. He didn’t use any of his nine outs while vanquishing Eric Bitonti (MIL No. 26), 9-8, in the first round, and he had four outs remaining when he dispatched O'Dowd, 4-3, in the second round. But he only delivered once in the finals to fall to Parker.

"This is awesome," said Parker, whose longest drive traveled 497 feet. "Throughout the day, you're thinking about it and you're like, OK, if I swing and miss, you know, it's no big deal. Or if I don't hit any homers, it's no big deal. It was just coming out here with no expectations and understanding that the group of guys around you is going to lift you up to their playing field as well."

Here is how the Home Run Derby played out by round:

FINAL

Preliminary Round: 1 minute, 30 seconds

1. Jack O’Dowd (Rockies) - 10
2. Alex McCoy (Padres) - 6
3. Brooks Bryan (Royals) - 5
4. Tai Peete (Cardinals) - 6
5. Eric Bitonti (Brewers) - 8
6. Antonio Anderson (Red Sox) - 4
7. Aaron Parker (Blue Jays) - 7
8. Yerlin Confidan (Reds) - 1

Round 1: 9 outs

O'Dowd - 2 (12 total) vs. Confidan - 0 (1 total)
Bitonti - 0 (8 total) vs. Peete - 4 (10 total)
Bryan - 2 (7 total) vs. Anderson - 2 (6 total)
Parker - 5 (12 total) vs. McCoy - 1 (7 total)

Round 2: 9 Outs

O'Dowd (3) vs. Peete (4)
Bryan (4) vs. Parker (5)

Final Round: 9 outs

Peete (1) vs. Parker (2)

TOTALS:

Parker - 19
Peete - 15
O'Dowd - 15
Bryan - 11
Bitonti - 8
McCoy - 7
Anderson - 6
Confidan - 1