​Florida baseball alum Jac Caglianone will take part in the 2026 Home Run Derby. The event is set for July 13 at 8 p.m. and will be held at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with coverage planned for Netflix. Caglianone announced his participation on social media on Wednesday, July 8, and will be accompanied by two other major leaguers: Junior Caminero, the Tampa Bay Rays’ third baseman, and Ben Rice, the New York Yankees’ first baseman. In total, eight players will compete in this year’s Derby.
If Caglianone wins the 2026 Home Run Derby, he would become the youngest champion since 1993. This edition introduces a revamped format that moves away from the traditional timed rounds. Under the new rules, each batter will get 20 swings in the first round, followed by 15 swings in the semifinals and finals. Should a player hit a home run on the final swing of a round, they may continue swinging until they fail to homer. In the event of a tie, the tiebreaker will be the longest home run hit. If ties arise in the semifinals or finals, they will be settled by a three-swing swing-off.
In his second season in professional baseball, Caglianone has posted a .258 batting average with 14 home runs for the Kansas City Royals’ organization. Notably, nine of his long balls came in June, including a stretch of six homers over five games. Caglianone holds Florida’s home run record with 75 career homers, and he set the Gators’ single-season mark with 35 long balls during the 2024 season.
For more on this story, reach Florida Gators writer Andrew Abadie at AAbadie@usatodayco.com or on X (formerly Twitter) at @AndrewAbadie. He can also be found on Facebook at Andrew Abadie Sports Reporter and on Instagram @andrewabadie_sports. This report originally appeared in The Gainesville Sun with the headline Florida baseball alum Jac Caglianone joins 2026 Home Run Derby field for better SEO.