Teoscar becomes Dodgers' 1st Derby winner -- with a little help from his friends

ARLINGTON -- No matter who he goes up against, Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernández always bets on himself.

Coming into the 2024 T-Mobile Home Run Derby, Hernández was not the favorite to win. But he proved everyone wrong, and, for good measure, made a bit of history.

In being crowned the Derby champion at Globe Life Field on Monday night, Hernández became the first Dodger to accomplish the feat. It was his first career appearance in the contest, and just getting there was the realization of a lifelong goal -- but he had his sights set on more than just participating.

“People maybe underestimate [me]. You can see it at the end when [Bobby Witt Jr.] was hitting all those homers,” Hernández said after the competition. “Everybody was [rooting] for him. But I'm here, [and I’m] as talented as all those guys over there.”

The road to Hernández’s win was nothing short of dramatic, as he continually edged out his opponents by one dinger the entire night -- including against Witt, his finals opponent.

In the first round, Witt earned the No. 3 seed with 20 homers, while Hernández knocked 19. In the semifinal, Hernández and the Phillies’ Alec Bohm tied at 14 to prompt a tie-breaking swing-off. Hernández went 2-for-3, while Bohm hit just one. That gave Hernández 16 total for Round 2, while Witt hit 17 to knock out José Ramírez.

The stage was set for another close call in the final.

Coming to bat first, Hernández set the tone by swatting 14 shots -- 11 in regular time, three in bonus -- with eight projected to fly farther than 425 feet, per Statcast.

Then, all he could do was sit and watch.

Things got tense as Witt also hit 11 in regular time, and even more so when he came one away from tying the score in bonus time. But his last swing just missed, the ball hitting off the left-center-field wall, to give Hernández the victory.

In addition to making Dodgers history, Hernández became the seventh Dominican-born player to win the Derby, and the second in three years, joining Juan Soto (2022). Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Hernández’s former Blue Jays teammate who last year became part of the first father-son Derby-winning duo, was born in Canada.

Dodgers third-base coach Dino Ebel, Hernández’s pitcher for the Derby, was right beside him throughout the stressful moments of the night. But Ebel wasn’t concerned about Witt’s count. Instead, he was watching his player’s family and friends.

“I kind of sat back behind the chair and watched him, and he was excited. You could see it,” Ebel said. “When he stood up and when that ball went up in the air, I looked at him. He thought that ball was going to go out. What a moment when he stood up and raised his hands. I kind of looked up to his family and they were jumping up in joy. That's the thrill I get out of it.”

Ebel was hardly the only one in Hernández’s corner. When Hernández called for his first strategic timeout at the 1:30 mark of Round 1, his Dodgers teammates came out to give him a towel and some water to recharge. But there was also movement from the American League side.

Donning a No. 37 Blue Jays Hernández jersey that he keeps framed on a wall in a “special room,” Guerrero, Toronto’s star first baseman, walked over to his former teammate, accompanied by Yankees outfielder Soto. Soto, Guerrero and Shohei Ohtani gave Hernández some tips to improve his swing.

“[Ohtani] said to hit the ball to left-center, to not pull it, because I had a better chance, because of the way my swing was, to go over there,” Hernández recalled. “It's far, but he said, ‘It's better for you.’”

The advice worked, and Hernández’s bat caught fire.

He ended up with a total of 19 homers in the first round, surpassing the Rangers’ Adolis García (18), the Braves’ Marcell Ozuna (16), two-time Derby winner Pete Alonso of the Mets (12) and the Orioles’ Gunnar Henderson (11).

During his timeout and before his bonus time in Round 2, Hernández got additional pep talks from Guerrero. And just after Hernández was declared the winner, Guerrero approached his friend once more, this time to pass on the winner’s chain.

“From a Derby champ to a Derby champ,” Guerrero said. “I’m feeling very, very proud of Teo. He’s a great friend of mine. He’s my brother. My ex-teammate. What can I say about Teo? I’m so proud of him right now.”