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PHILADELPHIA, PA - JULY 13: Jordan Walker #18 of the St. Louis Cardinals poses for a photo during the 2026 All-Star player photoshoot at Citizens Bank Park on Monday, July 13, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Pressure? What pressure. Jordan Walker silenced the Philadelphia crowd with an outstanding display of power and poise in the final round to overcome Kyle Schwarber and take home the Home Run Derby.
After homering in each of his final six swings, needing every single one of them, Walker became the first St. Louis Cardinals player in the history of one of baseball’s most storied franchises to win this event.
Right-handed hitters dominated Round 1
One of the underdogs heading into this event, Willson Contreras started things off with a performance that looked more and more impressive with each hitter that came to the plate in the first round. Not only was Contreras impressive in total volume, finishing with 13, but he also shone in raw power with four of the six largest distances, matched only by Junior Caminero in the top 6. So much was made of the field day left-handed hitters would have with the Derby taking place in Philly that maybe the righty hitters took it a bit personally.
Jordan Walker followed Contreras and also managed to hit 13 homers, which inevitably led us to believe in a high cutoff mark for that first round. Little did we know that no other hitter would crack 13. Unlike Contreras, Walker looked to be saving himself more for the following round, which is backed up by an average exit velocity five miles per hour slower than Contreras despite clearly possessing more raw power. Evidently, that move paid off with Walker eventually taking home the trophy.
It wasn’t quite Jazz Chisholm Jr. in terms of level of disappointment, but Ben Rice was responsible for another underwhelming Derby for a Yankees hitter, finishing with just seven homers and the lowest average exit velocity (103.7 MPH).
Junior Caminero was another standout performer from the right side with 12 bombs—Kyle Schwarber didn’t crack the top 3 with just 10 home runs. With that, the stage was then set for Bryce Harper to compete against his teammate for the final spot as the only lefty to make it to the second round. Harper only got to eight home runs and was bounced out early.
National League over American League in Round 2
Walker missed out on the top seed to Contreras, who had a longer home run in the first round. With that, the matchups were between Walker vs. Caminero and Contreras vs. Schwarber. Caminero was underwhelming with just five home runs in 15 swings and set up a pretty easy second round for Walker, who got to six with still seven swings to spare.
The second semifinal was far closer, and this time around, the batter going first managed to squeeze out a win, as Schwarber’s nine home runs proved enough to beat out Contreras, who stopped at eight.
Dramatic final round
Schwarber managed to hit 11 bombs to open the final, more than any hitter had achieved in the semis with the same 15 swings. With the pressure of the home crowd against Walker to wrap things up, something that might’ve led to a pedestrian start for the Cardinals’ slugger—the win looked like a sure thing for Schwarber.
Up until Walker’s final run, there had been only one home run in the final ball of a round, allowing a hitter to extend his run, and that had come from Schwarber in the final. Walker had three swings left with six home runs and then doubled that total with six straight home runs to win the event.
Overall, Walker ended the night with 31 home runs on 47 swings, a ridiculous mark for the once-former top prospect currently in the middle of a breakout campaign.
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