Julio Rodríguez announced himself to the baseball world with his performance in the Home Run Derby in 2022. The Mariners center fielder bashed 32 home runs in the quarterfinals, 31 in the semifinals and 18 in the finals en route to a second-place finish.
Monday evening, however, Rodríguez surpassed his feats from a year ago.
The Dominican Republic native hit 41 home runs in the quarterfinals at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, easily defeating Mets first baseman Pete Alonso and setting a record for most home runs in a single Derby round.
Rodríguez had defeated Alonso, a two-time Derby champion, in the semifinals in 2022.
JULIO RODRIGUEZ PUT ON A SHOW 🤩
41 home runs in the first round 🚀 pic.twitter.com/JrI4Ajag0p
— ESPN (@espn) July 11, 2023
The second-year star hit 32 home runs in regulation and wowed the hometown crowd with nine more in bonus time. Incidentally, his 41 home runs matched his career total of 41 between 2022 and ’23.
Rodríguez advanced to meet Blue Jays infielder Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who defeated Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts in the quarterfinals 26–11.
