Cleveland Guardians All-Star José Ramírez was added to the 2024 Home Run Derby field, marking his second time competing in the event.
Ramírez was among the eight participants for the Home Run Derby at Dodger Stadium in 2022, when he lost in the first round to eventual champion Juan Soto. Ramírez hit 17 homers to Soto’s 18.
Ramírez and all other participants will enjoy the benefit of new rules and format going into effect with this year’s Derby, and among the changes being the first round no longer pitting batters in head-to-head matchups via bracket seeding.
Though even if the format had been in place for MLB All-Star Week 2022, Ramírez still would’ve been eliminated due to hitting the fewest homers in the first round.
Ramírez, a six-time All-Star, is looking to become Cleveland’s first Home Run Derby winner in franchise history. He’s among six Cleveland players to ever participate in the event and third to do so multiple times.
Albert Belle (1993-1995), Manny Ramírez (1995), Jim Thome (1997-1998), Grady Sizemore (2008) and Carlos Santana (2019) are other Indians/Guardians who have taken their swings in Derby history.
The 2024 Home Run Derby at Globe Life Field is on Monday, July 15, and will air live on ESPN at 5 p.m. PT.
Home Run Derby Field
The current list of Home Run Derby participants consists of Gunnar Henderson, Alec Bohm, Pete Alonso, Bobby Witt Jr., Marcell Ozuna and José Ramírez.
Alonso is the veteran from the bunch as he’s looking to tie Ken Griffey Jr.’s MLB record with three Derby championships. Alonso is competing in the Home Run Derby for a fifth consecutive year.
Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star Teoscar Hernández has expressed interest in competing, but teammate Shohei Ohtani is skipping the event after also sharing he was considering doing the Home Run Derby for a second time in his career.
New York Yankees teammates Juan Soto and Aaron Judge also decided against participating this year.
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