NEW YORK — Baseball’s Home Run Derby is eliminating the clock.
Each hitter will have 20 swings in the first round of this year’s contest at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park on July 13, Major League Baseball said Thursday. The change coincides with a switch in broadcaster to Netflix from ESPN, which had televised the event since 1994.
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A player who homers on swing 20 will keep on swinging until he doesn’t connect for a long ball. The top four hitters advance, with distance of the longest homer used as a tiebreaker.
Hitters will be seeded for the second round, where No. 1 faces 4 and 2 meets 3.
Each player takes 15 swings in the second round, with batters again homering on their final swing continuing until not homering. A best-of-three swingoff would break ties.
The format for the second round will be used for the final.
No bonus rounds will be used.
Say this for the Phillies: They are what we thought they were, a playoff contender led by two aces atop the starting rotation and a dominant closer. Pitching coach Caleb Cotham joins “Phillies Extra,” The Inquirer’s baseball podcast, to discuss the state of the Phillies’ pitching, from the success of Cristopher Sanchez and Zack Wheeler to the struggles of Andrew Painter. Watch here.
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