Time's Up! MLB nixes clock for Home Run Derby
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- MLB eliminated the clock from the Home Run Derby, announcing each hitter will get 20 swings in the first round of this year's contest at Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park on July 13.
- Netflix replaces ESPN as the Home Run Derby broadcaster, ending ESPN's 31-year run with the event that began in 1994.
- The format lets hitters who homer on their final swing keep swinging until they fail to connect, with the top four advancing and distance of the longest homer used as the tiebreaker.
- Second-round hitters will be seeded 1-vs-4 and 2-vs-3, getting 15 swings each under the same keep-swinging-until-you-miss rule.
- Ties in the second round and final are broken by a best-of-three swingoff, and no bonus rounds will be used.
Why it matters: ESPN had carried the Derby for 30 years, so Netflix inherits a marquee All-Star Week property as it builds out its live sports lineup. The shift from a clock-based to a swing-count format puts the emphasis on cumulative power production, letting sluggers who time their swing to the buzzer now work until they whiff.
