Jac Caglianone, a genuinely gigantic human who absolutely crushes baseballs, found himself eliminated in the first round of this year's Home Run Derby. It was a tough break for the Kansas City Royals slugger, even if he launched some absolute tanks. The whole event was a different beast entirely, especially with the wild new format that saw St. Louis Cardinals star Jordan Walker, all of 24 years old, take down hometown hero Kyle Schwarber in one of the craziest finishes we've seen in a Derby in years.
Cags Battled, But the New Rules Hit Different
The stage was set by Wilson Contreras, who put up a respectable 12 home runs, and Jordan Walker, who followed with an impressive 13. Then it was Cags' turn, with his dad, Jeff, pitching to him. You could just tell Cags was feeling the pressure a bit, right? He looked nervous early on, even having a rough patch where he made an out with seven consecutive swings. Oof, tough to watch. But then he locked in! He unleashed a ridiculous shot into the upper deck and another bomb straight to center field, sailing right over the batting eye ivy. He finished with eight home runs. That's a solid number, really, right there with a lot of other first-round hitters: Muneteka Murakami only had nine, Ben Rice just seven, and even Bryce Harper himself only mashed eight. Kyle Schwarber had 10. But rules are rules, and Cags just didn't quite hit enough to advance. He got bumped.The Crowd Went Nuts for This Derby Reboot
This year's Derby brought back some old-school vibes, ditching the clock and the golden ball for a new swings-based format: 20 swings, and if you homered on the final one, you kept going until you made an out. It was a nice shift, letting those massive dingers really breathe and adding a ton more drama. Even with Netflix being a bit unhurried, with Cags not hitting until 45 minutes into the broadcast, the Philadelphia crowd was absolutely feisty, just as you'd expect. They were roaring for their guys, with not one but two Phillies participating. They even sent boos towards the non-Philly hitters and, at one point, booed an outfield kid for failing to snag a fly ball during Walker's first go-round. Seriously, Philly, never change. The final showdown was epic: Schwarber, the Philly fan favorite, against Walker, the Cardinal. Schwarber went first, crushing 11 home runs and setting a high bar. Walker, who looked a little gassed like many of the hitters after the first round, came down to his last swing. And what happened? He just kept hitting dinger after dinger, with absolutely no margin for error. He walked off Schwarber in an incredible performance. It was wild! Look, Caglianone's time will come again. He'll get another shot at this Derby, and when he does, you just know he's gonna be ready.This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.