​The Home Run Derby is back in town! In just a few hours, the blockbuster night of MLB All-Star Week festivities—an action-packed showcase of the league’s top power hitters—gets underway at 8 p.m. ET on Monday, July 13, at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. The field features some of the league’s premier sluggers, including Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero, who sits among the league’s leaders in homers and was the runner-up in last year’s event to Cal Raleigh, along with New York Yankees first baseman Ben Rice. Fans are buzzing about who will step up to claim the crown in 2026 as MLB unveils a fresh look for the Derby.
This year marks the first major format overhaul in more than a decade. The Derby will, for the first time since 2015, ditch the time clock and return to a pre-2015 structure where hitters are given a finite number of swings. The 2026 format features 20 swings in the first round, followed by 15 swings in both the semifinals and finals for advancing hitters. If a player hits a home run on swing No. 20 or on the final swing of a round, they’ll keep swinging until they record an out. As in recent years, the top four home run totals from the opening round advance to the semifinals, where players are seeded in a bracket based on their first-round totals and face off to determine the two finalists. In the event of a tie after the first round, distance will be the tiebreaker; for the second round and finals, a three-swing swing-off will decide the winner.
A major change this year is the removal of the time clock that previously restricted eight hitters, along with the elimination of extra swing rounds based on distance and other qualifications. The 2026 Derby consists of eight hitters, with the full field poised to deliver power-filled showdowns. The event will be broadcast on Netflix, marking a new broadcasting arrangement for this year’s Derby.
Date: Monday, July 13
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Location: Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia
Date and time details, the expanded field, and the revised format are all part of MLB’s fresh take as the Home Run Derby returns to center stage with a new look and a renewed sense of competitive excitement.