Time has expired on the Home Run Derby clock.
The annual power-hitting display, set to be contested July 13 in Philadelphia during All-Star Game festivities, will revert to its previous format when the number of swings, and not a set time, determined each player’s turn in the competition, The Athletic reported Thursday.
A sport that famously does not adhere to a clock to determine a winner, had embraced the time factor in recent years. The Home Run Derby went to a clock in 2015, while a pitch clock, introduced in 2023, has been credited for speeding up game times.
When the Home Run Derby clock was introduced in 2015, competitors were supposed to have five minutes to hit as many home runs as possible. But approaching inclement weather forced the reduction of time to four minutes per turn and that time limit was adopted permanently in 2016.
While the clock added a sense of urgency to the proceedings, the passage of time has shown that change is inevitable.
This season’s eight-person competition will require competitors to hit as many home runs as possible in 20 swings over the first round. It will be reduced to 15 swings over the final two rounds.
If a competitor hits a home run on his final swing of a round, he can continue until a swing does not produce a homer.
The first round will reduce the field to four competitors and change into a bracket-style competition for the semifinals where the top home-run hitter faces the one who hits the fourth most home runs. The second and third finishers also will square off in a head-to-head duel with the winners of the semifinals meeting in the finals.
Netflix is set to broadcast the Home Run Derby for the first time this season after the event had a long run on ESPN.
The Cincinnati Reds’ Dave Parker won the first Home Run Derby in 1985, while Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners is the defending champion.
