Alex Bregman represents Houston in the derby

2019 MLB Home Run Derby Recap

Astros Alex Bregman
Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images

Before all of the All-Stars took the field on Tuesday night in Cleveland, a few of the strongest bats in the league went toe-to-toe in the Home Run Derby on Monday, including Houston's own Alex Bregman. Here is a recap of the night full of dingers:

Round 1 - Matchup 1: #5 Joc Pederson vs. #4 Alex Bregman

Houston fans didn't have to wait long to see their guy step into the box; his matchup was first on the schedule. Joc Pederson, the five seed from the Dodgers, went first, and was able to get 17 home runs in his regular four minutes, but was able to get an extension of 30 seconds by hitting two over 440 feet. He would add four more in those 30 seconds, setting the bar at 21 for Alex Bregman.

Bregman had plenty of friends cheering him on, but Bregman got out to a rough start, getting just six homers in the first minute and a half before taking his timeout. He did better after his break, but would be unable to get on a big enough streak, ending his round with 16 and coming up five home runs short, losing in the first round for the second straight year.

Winner: Joc Pederson

Round 1 - Matchup 2: #8 Vladimir Guerrero Jr. vs. #1 Matt Chapman

The next matchup was between the lowest seeded, and youngest ever participant, Vladimir Guerrero Jr of the Blue Jays and the highest seeded Matt Chapman from the A's, who took the spot of Christian Yelich who sat out the tournament with back soreness. Guerrero Jr. came out swinging, launching some monster dingers in the early parts of his round, quickly earning a 30-second bonus. He took his timeout with 2:48 left and seven homers on the board. He went on to finish his regular four minutes with 24 then added four more in his extra time for a total of 28, a new single-round record.

Matt Chapman waited longer into his round to take his break, stopping with 1:47 left but with just nine long balls recorded, though he had already earned the 30-second extension. He took his 13 total into the extra half-minute but would be unable to add any more, losing the round.

Winner: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Round 1 - Matchup 3: #6 Ronald Acuna Jr. vs. #3 Josh Bell

The next matchup started with Ronald Acuna Jr. from the Braves who put together a solid round. He quickly hit two home runs over the 440 foot mark, earning the bonus time when his regular four minutes was over. He hit 11 out of the park before taking his timeout with 1:41 left. He went on a tear after his breather, getting 12 more to bring his regular-time total to 23 then added one more in the extra time to finish with 24 overall.

Josh Bell of the Pirates looked to beat that high total, but would struggle to find his rhythm in the first half of his time, going into his break with just four and 2:33 left on the clock. He would heat up after that, getting up to 17 at the end of four minutes. He would only be able to add one more in the extra time, ending with 18 and losing the round.

Winner: Ronald Acuna Jr.

Round 1 - Matchup 4: #7 Carlos Santana vs. #2 Pete Alonso

The final matchup of the first round started with the hometown representative, Carlos Santana of the Indians. He was slow out the gate, not getting his first home run until nearly a minute into his clock. He would struggle to string multiple long balls together, taking his time out with five on the board and just 1:41 left. He did well in the remainder of his time, climbing up to 13, but would not earn the bonus time.

That set things up for rookie Pete Alonso of the Mets, the number two seed in the bracket. He too would have a rough start to his round, taking his timeout with 1:44 left on the clock and behind the pace at six home runs. He would do better with the time he had left, hitting the round-winning fourteenth home run with just a few seconds left in his regular time.

Winner: Pete Alonso

Round 2 - Matchup 1: #8 Vladimir Guerrero Jr. vs. #5 Joc Pederson 

Guerrero Jr. was first up in the second round and was once again hitting mammoth homers at a quick rate, getting nine quickly and earning the bonus time before taking his timeout early with 2:39 left in the round. He would continue to mash dinger after dinger, ending his original four minutes with 27. In his extra 30 seconds, he would match his record he set in the previous round, getting two more to bring his total to 29.

Pederson didn't go quietly or surrender his time away, getting out to a hot start in his half of the round. He earned his extra 30 seconds and had 14 home runs when he took his time out halfway through his time. He kept stringing multiple home runs together, staying within reach and ending his regular four minutes with 27, just two away from Guerrero's total. Pederson would finish tied with 29 total.

That set up a one-minute tiebreaker, where Guerrero Jr. would start things off with eight more home runs to bring his total to 37. Pederson, after an amazing round to tie things up, would match Guerrero Jr. yet again, getting eight of his own to re-tie things at 37 in the round.

The next tiebreaker was a three swing matchup. Guerrero Jr. left an opening for Pederson, getting just one home run out of his three chances. Pederson was in a great position after getting one down on his first swing but would come short on his second and third swings, setting up one more round.

In the next swing-off, Guerrero Jr. would get home runs on the first two swings before flying out on the third. That would be enough to win the absolute thriller of a round, with Pederson getting just one home run in his half of the third tiebreaker.

Winner: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Round 2 - Matchup 2: #6 Ronald Acuna Jr. vs. #2 Pete Alonso

In the other semifinal, Acuna Jr. started slower than in his first round, getting nine home runs before calling his timeout with 1:42 left. He was able to pick up the pace slightly after that and after getting his two 440-plus homers headed into his bonus 30 seconds with a total of 18. He would get just one more in the extra time, ending with 19.

Alonso looked to be in trouble, getting just eight home runs before taking his break with 1:49 left, though he had already added 30 seconds to his time. He wouldn't need it, though, getting winning home run number 20 on the last swing of his regular four minutes, sending him on to the final round.

Winner: Pete Alonso

Round 3 - Final: #8 Vladimir Guerrero Jr. vs. #2 Pete Alonso

The final matchup would pit the two dominant rookies against each other, and first to the plate was Guerrero Jr. who hoped to get one more electric round to take home the crown. He would take his first of two timeouts allowed in the final round with 2:52 left and with five homers recorded. He added three more before taking the other timeout a minute later. He finished his initial four minutes with 20 before coming back for his 30 second bonus time. In the bonus time, he would tack on two more to end at 22, bringing his total for the night to 91, a new record.

That put the ball in Alonso's hands, and he would start decently, getting eight homers before his first timeout with 2:47 left. He added ten more, including two over 440 feet to earn 30 more seconds, before taking his other break with 1:02 left. He would not need the extra time, getting the winning 23rd home run of the round with 18 seconds left.

Winner and 2019 Home Run Derby Champion: Pete Alonso

Most Popular

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome

Listen Live

ESPN Houston 97.5 FM
Can the Astros overcome the loss of Bregman? Composite Getty Image.

So where does one turn now in Houston for mediocre, overpriced salsa? I kid, I kid. While wondering if Breggy Baked Beans are on the horizon. Congrats to Alex Bregman and agent Scott Boras for landing an on its face outlandish three-year 120-million dollar contract with the Boston Red Sox. With deferred money part of the deal the contract will be valuated in the neighborhood of “only” three years 90 million. Would Bregman have taken that from the Astros if offered? The Astros’ six-year 156-million dollar proposal was 26 mil per season. Bregman has the right to opt out after each of the first two seasons of his BoSox deal. If his decline (while still a very good player) of the last two seasons continues, or even if he holds steady, there is near zero chance of Bregman opting out unless he hates life in New England. At the end of the three years, will Bregman be able to land a three-year 66 million-dollar deal when he’s about to turn 34 years old? That plus the 90 mil with deferrals accounted for in his new deal would total 156 million. Massachusetts taxes personal income of just over a million dollars and upward at a nine percent rate. Playing half his games in the Bay State, Bregman will pay Massachusetts tax on half his salary.

Reminders...

Bregman obviously had an excellent Astros’ career, among non-pitchers he is top 10 all-time, but the excellence was frontloaded. Over Bregman’s first three big seasons he compiled a .289 batting average and .924 OPS. Elite numbers. Over the five seasons since: .261 and .795. Good, nothing legendary. After his monster MVP runner-up 2019 season (stats aided by the juiced balls of that season) Bregman was on a strong early Hall of Fame track. Now not so much, without some offensive resurgence. Fenway Park should suit Bregman well. He’ll bang singles and doubles off of the Green Monster, though the much higher than Crawford Boxes wall will not goose his home run numbers. In his time with the Astros Bregman mashed at Fenway with a .375 batting average and 1.240 OPS. That’s in a statistically not very significant 98 regular season plate appearances.

It is myth that Bregman in the postseason was some relentless hitting machine. He posted phenomenal numbers over seven Division Series batting .333 with an OPS over 1.000. Over 68 American League Championship Series and World Series games: batting average .196, OPS sub-.700.

For his career, Bregman’s worst month of performance by far has been April (plus any days in March, .737 OPS). In 2024 Bregman was baseball garbage into mid-May. Should a typical slow start happen again, we’ll see what the Fenway faithful patience level is. By far, Bregman’s best batting month has been August (.992 OPS). As it works out, both Astros-Red Sox series are in August this year. First in Boston August 1-3 then in Houston August 11-13.

Who's on third?

Over the last two seasons combined, new Astros’ third baseman Isaac Paredes has been as good offensively as Bregman. That includes Paredes pretty much stinking for two months in Chicago after being dealt from the Rays to the Cubs. Paredes, who turns 26 years old on Tuesday, was an AL All-Star last season. Bregman, who turns 31 March 30, was last an All-Star in 2019. The defensive drop-off from Bregman to Paredes is a fairly steep one.

There is no question that Bregman’s official departure weakens the Astros via a domino effect. Had Bregman wound up staying here, Paredes would have shifted to second base with Jose Altuve primarily in left field. Now, 600-plus plate appearances that Bregman would have taken project to be divided among Mauricio Dubon, Ben Gamel, Zach Dezenzo, and others. That projects as a substantial offensive downgrade. The lineup net result of the Astros’ offseason is negative. Christian Walker and Paredes joining the infield in lieu of Jon Singleton and Bregman is fine. Kyle Tucker out, hodge-podge in in the outfield, oh boy.

Alex Bregman is an unquestioned gamer, leader, and would seem to have the temperament to take well to the more intense baseball environment of Boston relative to that in Houston. Yankee fans should reeeeally love him now!

New beginnings

Considering baseball wasn’t invented until more than a century later, the poet Alexander Pope did not have baseball in mind when in 1732 he wrote “Hope springs eternal (in the human breast).” It works though. Other than the Chicago White Sox and Colorado Rockies, Major League teams have convened in Florida or Arizona thinking if things break right this could be their year! I’d probably put the Miami Marlins in with the ChiSox and Rockies. Many Astros’ fans are strongly disgruntled over the departures of Bregman and Kyle Tucker. This team still has “gruntlement” potential. The batting order appears Morganna-level (Google as necessary) top heavy, but one through five stacks well versus most other lineups. In the American League only the Mariners, Yankees, and maybe Royals have starting pitching rotations that should rate above the Astros’ rotation. Let the countdown to Opening Day begin!

Spring training is up and running. Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!

*Looking to get the word out about your business, products, or services? Consider advertising on SportsMap! It's a great way to get in front of Houston sports fans. Click the link below for more information!

https://houston.sportsmap.com/advertise

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome