MLB Home Run Derby: Predictions, live updates and takeaways - ESPN

It's 2023 MLB All-Star Home Run Derby day in Seattle!

Some of the biggest names in baseball will be taking aim at the T-Mobile Park bleachers on Monday (8 p.m. ET on ESPN) in one of the most anticipated events of the summer.

While a back-to-back champion is out of the picture — 2022 winner Juan Soto is not a part of this year's field — Pete Alonso will try to become the second player to win the event three times, joining the elite company of Ken Griffey Jr. Will Alonso get in the way of Julio Rodriguez's hometown coronation in the Emerald City? Or will one of the other six participants take the title?

We have your one-stop shop for everything Derby related, from predictions to live updates once we get underway to analysis and takeaways.

(1) Luis Robert Jr. vs. (8) Adley Rutschman

(4) Adolis Garcia vs. (5) Randy Arozarena

(6) Mookie Betts vs. (3) Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

(7) Pete Alonso vs. (2) Julio Rodriguez

Gonzalez: If you saw Arozarena in this year's World Baseball Classic — or, of course, in the 2020 postseason — then you know he is made for a moment like this. Arozarena was pushing to take part in this event before he was even voted an All-Star. He spent the Tampa Bay Rays' recent series in Seattle getting a feel for T-Mobile Park, and he then took part in a handful of timed practice rounds in the ensuing week to ensure he was ready. He wants this. And he's going to get it — by outlasting Alonso in the final round.

Passan: Predictions are folly — I might well change mine leading into the broadcast based on how the participants are feeling in batting practice — but the best story would be a Rodriguez-Rutschman final. The hometown favorite vs. the Pacific Northwest-born-and-raised kid; two stars, neither older than 25,