Juan Soto shines in Hollywood and wins the Home Run Derby
Dominican Juan Soto was crowned champion of the 2022 home run festival by defeating his compatriot Julio Rodríguez in the final round of the event held at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles and becoming the sixth criollo to win a Homrun Derby.
Soto hit 20 full-round hits in the first round and 18 in the second round, leaving fellow Dominicans José Ramírez and Albert Pujols out of the way; while he made way for Rodríguez by hitting 19 home runs; in total he finished the event with 57 home runs.
Rodriguez, incidentally, became the first player to have two rounds of 30+ homers in the same Homerun Derby; hitting 32 in the first round against Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager and 31 in the second to outrun two-time champion Pete Alonso, first baseman for the New York Mets.
In all, the Seattle Mariners outfielder finished the event with 81 homers, hitting 18 in the final matchup.
In an event where a record number of Dominicans participated in this type of event, this edition became the second time that two born in Quisqueya faced each other in the final round; the first was between Hanley Ramírez and David Ortiz in 2010 at Angel Stadium.
The Dominican legion that has won the Home Run Derby title began with Sammy Sosa in 2000, extending to Miguel Tejada, 2004; Vladimir Guerrero, 2007; David Ortiz, 2010; and Robinson Canó, 2011.