Teoscar Hernández made Los Angeles Dodgers franchise history on Monday night by winning the 2024 Home Run Derby at Globe Life Field.
Hernández became the first Dodgers player to ever win a Home Run Derby competition, which MLB first began in 1985. This year marked the 14th time the Dodgers had a representative in the event, and he was their 12th different player.
As the Dodgers All-Star battled his way through a new Home Run Derby format, teammates Tyler Glasnow, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith and Shohei Ohtani were on hand to lend their support.
Glasnow and Ohtani in particular were vocal each time Hernández took a timeout to catch his breath.
“He said to hit the ball to left-center, to not pull it,” Hernández recalled of advice he received from Ohtani.
“Because I had a better chance. Because the way my swing is, to go over there. It’s far, but he said, ‘It’s better for you.'”
Hernández also had the support of former Toronto Blue Jays teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr. A Home Run Derby champion himself, Guerrero dressed in a Hernández Blue Jays jersey and regularly joined in on the conversations.
“That was one of the biggest surprises,” Hernández said of Guerrero wearing his jersey. “He said when we got here to the hotel, ‘I’ve got a surprise for you compadre.’
“He brought my jersey from Toronto, and when he went to home plate, he was trying to calm me down.”
While the support from Dodgers teammates and Guerrero seemingly provided a boon, Hernández also benefitted from unwavering self-confidence.
“If I have to bet, it doesn’t matter who I’m going against,” Hernández said as he sat with the Home Run Derby trophy. “I’m going to bet on myself. People maybe underestimate me. And you can see it at the end when (Bobby) Witt was hitting all those homers, everybody was cheering for him.
“But I’m here and I outlasted all those guys over there.”
How Teoscar Hernández won Home Run Derby
Hernández hit 19 home runs in the first round, finishing as the No. 4 seed and advancing to face Philadelphia Phillies All-Star Alec Bohm in the semifinals.
In the second round, Hernández mustered just 14 home runs but Bohm could only tie the mark, sending them to a swing off. After hitting two more before his three outs, Hernández advanced to the finals with 16 homers compared to Bohm’s 15.
That put him in the championship round against the Kansas City Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr., who many picked to win the event.
Hernández hit 14 home runs, which included one in the bonus round.
Witt tied Hernández in the two minutes of normal time and appeared primed to take the crown as he needed just one more homer before making three outs.
But Witt failed to leave the yard and Hernández put himself into Dodgers lore.
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