A new format delivered the drama in the 2026 T-Mobile Home Run Derby.
Monday night’s Derby at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia came down to the wire, with the Cardinals’ Jordan Walker beating the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber in a tense final round. And thanks to changes to this year’s Home Run Derby format, players and fans alike got to enjoy every last gripping moment.
Each of the eight hitters in this year’s Derby field got 20 swings to hit as many home runs as possible in the first round. In the semifinals and finals, hitters got just 15 swings. If anyone homered on their final swing, they got to keep batting until they swung and did not hit a home run.
In recent Derbies, hitters had a fixed time period (it was three minutes -- or 40 pitches -- in 2025) to swing away. But Monday’s Derby evoked an earlier era: Prior to 2015, in which each hitter got to swing until they recorded 10 “outs” -- i.e., any swings that did not produce homers.
“I think this one’s pretty cool, man,” Schwarber said of the 2026 Derby format. “Just being able to kind of pace out a little bit, let the fans see the ball travel, everything like that. It gives us a little bit of a breather, too, to kind of collect yourself and just keep trying to find that rhythm.”
Schwarber sure found the rhythm he was looking for, ousting Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras in Round 2 to advance to the final and at one point crushing seven homers in eight swings in his matchup with Walker.
But it was the 24-year-old St. Louis outfielder -- one of the youngest players to win the Derby -- who got the last laugh. New to the Derby scene, Walker acknowledged he was “an outsider looking in” on the event’s old format. Still, you can consider him a fan of the redesign.
“Personally, I enjoyed it,” Walker said. “I can take my time, get my best swing off. And it does add a little bit more pressure because you know there's a set number -- you have a set amount of swings to get to that number. But I tried my best not to think about that.”
Even in front of a clearly partisan Philadelphia crowd, Walker didn’t let the moment overwhelm him. He hit 12 home runs in the first round, then beat the Rays’ Junior Caminero in Round 2 to make the final. The odds were slim when he had only six home runs with three swings remaining -- five homers behind Schwarber -- but he came through. With Citizens Bank Park hanging on every pitch and any non-homer swing handing Schwarber a victory, Walker slugged SIX straight dingers for a come-from-behind Derby win.
While a similar comeback could have been achieved under a timed format, the new layout of the 2026 Derby allowed maximum drama to build during one of the best moments in Derby history.
“The format, the new format and the new way of the Home Run Derby makes it fun, and it's way better than before,” Contreras said.