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Jeff Passan ESPN
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- ESPN MLB Insider Author of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports”
Since his debut in 2019, no one in baseball has hit more home runs than New York Mets shortstop Pete Alonso. In fact, no one has come close. Alonso’s 130 home runs are 19 ahead of second-leading homer Eugenio Suarez. Alonso has 24 more than Aaron Judge, 32 more than Bryce Harper, 35 more than Juan Soto and 36 more than Mike Trout.
“It’s the most addictive feeling,” Alonso said. “I mean, I can’t get enough of it. I don’t know if there’s anyone who likes to hit homers more than I do.”
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Never is that love more on display than at the Home Run Derby, All-Star Week, which showcases Major League Baseball’s greatest home run hitters. As well-rounded a hitter as Alonso has become — his .268/.344/.527 line in a depressed offensive environment this season is testament to that — the summer’s annual reminder of his prowess with the long ball is set for one more time — around Monday at Dodger Stadium on ESPN at 8:00 PM ET.
Winner of the last two derbies in 2019 and 2021, Alonso is poised to make history with a third straight victory. Only Ken Griffey Jr has taken three Derby titles, in 1994, 1998 and 1999. Although 27-year-old Alonso has plenty of time to match Junior’s total, he would prefer to go the route of the three championships.
To do this, you need to have strategy along with skills. And in a recent interview with ESPN, Alonso opened up about how he approaches the Derby and what it takes to win, whether you’re a seasoned big leaguer or a rookie looking for glory. Here, just hours before he puts them to the test: Pete Alonso’s 10 Rules for Winning the Home Run Derby.
Rule #1: Hydrate like crazy
Winning a home derby starts days before the event itself, Alonso said. He makes sure to eat well and get a few extra hours of sleep. Above all, however, he drinks water as if suffering from a personal drought.
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The Derby’s new format, introduced in 2015, places the eight participants in a seeded group. Each competitor swings for three minutes, with one 45-second break per round. He then gets 30 seconds of bonus time — and can earn another 30 seconds if at least one homer travels 440 or more feet in the first three minutes.
“People think the Derby is a show of strength, but I think it’s more of an endurance race,” Alonso said. “The thing is, it’s not just the day before. It’s a few days before that for me. I always try to be the most hydrated person possible because when you’re outside and you’re sweating, especially now in the summer, it becomes And then you start to feel tired if you’re not [hydrated]. So I just want my body to be able to recover, recover and be able to maintain a high energy production.”
Rule #2: Get moral support
For those who have the courage to participate in a home derby, know that the support of friends is very important. And when you’re Pete Alonso, your friends are Mike Piazza and Mark McGuire, the latter of whom won the Derby in 1992.
“I thought they were superheroes and I could reach them both [is amazing]” said Alonso. “Marc actually sent me a message the other day and he’s quite excited that I’m going to be in the Derby. So it’s really amazing for me to have a connection with my childhood idols.”
Rule #3: The opponent doesn’t matter
Alonso is ranked No. 2 in this year’s Derby, which ranks hitters based on their first-half home runs. Philly’s Kyle Schwarber is in the lead, followed by Alonso, Corey Seager, Soto, Jose Ramirez, rookie Julio Rodriguez, Alonso’s rival, Ronald Acuna Jr. and Albert Puholz.
It would be easy and natural for Alonso to fear Acuna, his first-round opponent (7th seed, with eight home runs this season). Acuna’s amazing power stroke and youth — he’s 24 — are a combination that plays well in this event. But he’s Pete Alonso and everyone else isn’t, and that kind of confidence is very important.
“It doesn’t necessarily matter who I’m up against because I’m just out there focusing on the job at hand, I’ve just got to hit one more than that,” he said. “So I don’t really pay attention to who does it. I just want to hit one more than anyone I’m up against.”
Rule #4: Find the right pitcher
Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports
Not everyone, Alonso admitted, can get the best pitcher in the world for batting practice — a pitcher willing to fly in from Europe for the event. Dave Jause, the former Mets bench coach and current pitcher in Home Run Derby X, MLB’s attempt to turn the Derby into an international event, became a temporary celebrity last year when he entered Alonso’s nitro zone.
“He knows exactly where he is,” Alonso said. “Right over the middle of the plate and right in the bread basket. No matter how hard I have to hit them, the pitcher has to throw them. This is just as nerve wracking for the pitcher as it is for the hitter because the pitcher has the responsibility to throw the ball over the court. When you have 40, 50,000 people staring at you and breathing down your neck, so to speak, it can be difficult.”
Rule #5: Know your zone
In timed derbies, it is imperative not only for the pitcher to find the hitter’s sweet spot, but also for the batter to not swing at non-standard pitches. Remember, the pitcher must wait until a fly ball lands to throw the next offering. High flies that don’t reach the fence are killers.
“I’m basically just looking for a pitch in my area,” Alonso said. “I have a zone where I’m looking for the ball to be. So this will be my zone. Almost all of my load is trying to see the ball in my zone. And then once I finally get into that loaded zone position, if I like what I see, you should see my hips, my core, my legs swing back and through the baseball.”
Rule #6: Stick to your swing
For all the concern about whether the Derby can ruin a player’s swing — plenty of evidence shows that participants’ offensive numbers drop after the break … and there are plenty of examples of players’ offense improving — Alonso made the point moot by trying to to reproduce his in-game swing in the exhibition.
“When I’m taking batting practice, I try to make game-like swings,” Alonso said. “I want to be quick and short for the baseball, but also add the same level of effort. Because I want to train at a similar pace [as] the way i play
“The swing is almost like a fingerprint where every single baseball player is different. There are many comparisons in baseball. No one is the same. People can be strikingly similar. But I think the swing is one of those things — it’s almost like a baseball player’s thumbprint.”
Rule #7: Use your timeouts wisely
A timely timeout could save a player’s chances for the Derby’s $1 million first-place prize. Players can use it for a variety of reasons – he’s off to a bad start and wants to change his juju, he needs to calculate the pace at which he needs to hit to outscore his opponent, or he’s usually just tired.
“I know it sounds like a super simple answer,” Alonso said, “but when I take my time, it’s like, OK, I need to take a breather. I have to reset. Or like last year: I passed halfway through because we were in a really good groove. As soon as the groove ended, it was like, OK, let’s take our time here, catch our breath, and then cross the finish line. So I think timing the breaks right is huge.”
Rule #8: Let your emotions go
Trying to calibrate all the emotions a derby brings is still a challenge for Alonso. He doesn’t have any special technique to calm the nerves. So he hugs them all — and likens himself to soda in the process.
“There is excitement,” Alonso said. “There is doubt. There is nervousness. There is restraint. It’s just like a whole bottle of emotion soda. And then when you go out there and hit until you shake it and drop the top, it’s just a release of emotion. And that’s when for me, when I’m in my rhythm, it just naturally comes out.”
Rule #9: Hit tanks
Look, home run derbies are not for the meek. It takes a special kind of confidence to step into the batter’s box and hit a ball over the fence. But come on. A fence is just an arbitrary measure of distance. As memorable as homers are in bunches, the truly legendary performances come from the guys who hit the ball the farthest.
Alonso embraces this ethos. In last year’s final against Baltimore’s Trey Mancini, Alonso’s first swing produced his longest homer in the Derby: 509 feet. Later in that round, on the cusp of victory, he destroyed another ball: 115 mph off the bat, 508 feet before landing. His 74 home runs in the event traveled a total of 6.35 miles – an average of 453 feet per homer.
Dodger Stadium presents an especially mouth-watering opportunity for Alonso. Six times in history a player has hit a ball over the outfield pavilion and left the ballpark: Willie Stargell twice, Piazza, McGuire, Giancarlo Stanton — who almost played in this year’s Derby but pulled out this week — and Fernando Tatis Jr. Alonso, who believes in the idea of the league using extra-spring balls for the derby, wants to be seventh.
“People tell me all the time that with the Derby balls and the environment, I could probably put one in the parking lot,” Alonso said. “So I think it would be fun. Hit one really out of the ballpark.”
Rule #10: Have fun
Perhaps this is obvious. The Home Run Derby is an inherently fun event, and regardless of the conflicting emotions, the variables beyond your control, the perils of hydration, it should be a good time. Enjoy the long ones. Be thankful for…
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