The Home Run Derby is getting a makeover.
One of the premier events of MLB’s All-Star week is ditching the clock and going with a set number of swings instead, The Athletic reported Wednesday.
In the first round, contestants will get 20 swings before going down to 15 in the second and third rounds.
In a fun twist, hitters will continue to swing if they homer on the final hack in each round until they produce an out.
For example, if a player hits a homer on the 20th swing of the first round, they keep taking swings until they record an out.
The top four finishers of the eight-player pool from the first round will advance to the second round, where the top first-round finisher will face the player with the fewest homers in the first round.
The second and third seeds also will face off to decide the championship matchup.
One of the biggest reasons for the change, according to The Athletic, was the new viewing experience for fans. This year’s derby will be the first on Netflix, and the streamer’s personnel asked for feedback from MLB and players for ways to improve the competition.
With the previous structure utilizing a timer, players said they would get tired trying to take as many swings as possible before the clock expired. Players will now have the ability to build drama and anticipation between swings.
The Home Run Derby has undergone several rule and format changes since the event’s introduction in 1985. From that year through 2014, the competition used some form of an outs-based system. In 2015 at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, MLB introduced the clock to great fanfare.
Fans will see the newest setup in action in the 2026 Home Run Derby, scheduled for 8 p.m. Eastern on July 13 at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park.
None of the eight participants has been announced, though Yankees slugger Ben Rice said this week that he “would love” to be part of the homer show.
