2023 Home Run Derby tracker: Full list of confirmed participants for HR Derby

The 2023 MLB All-Star Game will come to T-Mobile Park, home of the Seattle Mariners, on Tuesday, July 11. Of course, there’s a whole weekend’s worth of festivities to enjoy before the Midsummer Classic itself — highlighted by none other than the Home Run Derby. San Diego Padres superstar Juan Soto is the defending champion after his scintillating display at Dodger Stadium last year, but it remains to be seen whether Soto will return to defend his title or what the field will look like overall. We’ll be updating this post with all the latest news and rumors regarding who will participate in the 2023 Derby, so make sure to check back often.

2023 Home Run Derby participation tracker

Confirmed Participants

Julio Rodriguez, Mariners
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays
Mookie Betts, Dodgers
Randy Arozarena, Rays
Pete Alsono, Mets
Adley Rutschman, Orioles
Luis Robert, White Sox
Adolis Garcia, Rangers

July 5 – On ESPN’s bracket reveal show, Adolis Garcia was announced as the eighth and final participant for this year’s Home Run Derby. He is hitting .258 this season with 21 home runs and 69 RBI heading into Wednesday.

July 5 – New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso will be returning to the derby. He won the event in 2019 and 2021 and maybe a favorite in yet another odd-numbered year. Alonso is hitting .217 this season, but has 25 home runs and 58 RBI heading into his game on Wednesday.

July 5 – White Sox outfielder Luis Robert Jr. announced that he will be entering the 2023 Home Run Derby. Heading into Wednesday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays hitting .276 with 25 home runs and 49 RBI.

July 3 – The Orioles announced Monday that catcher Adley Rutschman will participate in the 2023 Home Run Derby. He enters Monday tied for second on the team with 11 home runs this season in just under 300 at-bats.

July 1 – We now have our fourth confirmed entrant into the 2023 MLB Home Run Derby: Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena.

The star of Randy Arozarena has only grown this year and it began when he was electrifying the World Baseball Classic for Team Mexico back in March. That only carried over into the regular season, where he has been a central piece of the Rays boasting the best record in the baseball for the duration of the season. Entering July, he is batting .288 with 15 home runs and 57 RBI. Those numbers earned him his first All-Star Game selection as a starter.

June 29 — Not long after Vlad Guerrero Jr. tossed his hat in the ring, we got our third confirmed contestant: Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star Mookie Betts, making his first-ever appearance in the Home Run Derby. At just 5’9, Betts may not look the part, but the former MVP has three 30-homer seasons to his name and has already popped 20 so far in 2023. Betts told reporters that he’d never really wanted to take part in the Derby, but now that he’s finally been talked into it, his goal is just to not finish last.

June 29 — We have our second entrant into the 2023 MLB Home Run Derby as Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will take part in the festivities in Seattle.

This will be Vlad Jr.’s second Home Run Derby appearance in his career, the first being his legendary performance in 2019 at Progressive Field in Cleveland. It was there where he set the record for most home runs in a single derby with 91 and his 40 in the second round also set set a single-round record. Unfortunately for him, he’d go on to lose to Pete Alonso in the championship round.

Guerrero’s invitation to the derby comes despite him not having the most explosive year in the long-ball category. He’s launched just 11 home runs on the year as of this writing, which doesn’t even crack the top 50 for home run hitters this season. Given his name and starpower, however, he should still put on a show for the crowd.

June 23 — With less than three weeks to go, we’ve got our first official entrant — and he’s a hometown hero. Seattle Mariners star Julio Rodriguez is very familiar with swinging for the fences at T-Mobile Park, and he announced via social media on Friday afternoon that he’s entering the field for the second year in a row:

The 22-year-old hasn’t quite lived up to expectations so far this season, slashing just .238/.300/.415 with 12 homers entering play on Friday. But he still hits the ball as hard anyone — his average and max exit velocities both land in the top 10 percent of the league, per Statcast — and he’s a year removed from launching 28 homers (in just 132 games) while bagging AL Rookie of the Year honors and carrying the Mariners to their first postseason berth since 2001.

Plus, we already know the sort of damage he can do in a Home Run Derby. Rodriguez put on an absolute show at Dodger Stadium last year, advancing all the way to the finals (and knocking out Derby legend Pete Alonso on the way) before falling one homer short of Juan Soto. His 32 home runs in the first round was the highest single-round total of the entire Derby. The second-highest? The 31 Rodriguez hit in the second round. Here’s hoping for a repeat in front of his home crowd.