Teoscar Hernandez was the final entrant in this year's Home Run Derby, and he nearly put together a performance that would've had him as the first player out. However, he bounced back to have a fine performance that after the round has him in position to advance with 19 first-round homers.
After his round, Hernandez was in third place behind Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson and Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. The top four performers in the first round advance to the knockout round.
Hernandez took a timeout with 1:30 left in his three-minute first round. At that point he had only six home runs. A 12-homer pace wasn't going to cut it, and he actually finished his initial session with just 13 home runs.
The bonus time gave him a chance to thrive though, and he showed off his easy power in the extra round. Players are given an untimed bonus round for a 425-foot home run that includes three outs, plus an additional out if a 425-foot homer is hit during the bonus period.
Hernandez took full advantage of that with six home runs in the bonus time to give himself a more respectable 19.
Part of the problem for Hernandez wasn't his power, which he showed can come easily. His pitcher, Dino Ebel let him down at certain points of the round, with pitches all over the strike zone. In the derby, a consistently placed pitch in the hitter's wheelhouse is the ideal, and Ebel fell short of that for stretches of the appearance.
Even if he doesn't move on, the Dodgers' slugger acquitted himself well against MLB's best home run hitters. Now he needs to carry that kind of performance into the second half for Los Angeles where his power can help carry them in stretches.
He's slated to face Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm in the semifinal in the No. 1 vs. No. 4 matchup. Bohm smacked 21 homers in Round 1.
