Marcell Ozuna will take his shot at claiming the Home Run Derby crown in Texas.
After Bobby Witt Jr. announced he would be competing in the Home Run Derby earlier Monday, Atlanta Braves designated hitter Ozuna threw his hat in the ring.
The 33-year-old joined the eight-man field, which now consists of Ozuna, Witt, Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson, Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm and New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso.
Ozuna was named his third All-Star team as a reserve Sunday night after a first half that has seen him slash .295/.377/.566 with 23 home runs and 19 doubles.
The 12-year MLB veteran ranks first in the National League in RBIs (72) and is second in homers and third in slugging percentage.
Ozuna's game should translate well to a Home Run Derby format. 16 of his 23 long balls this season have travelled over 400 feet, and he ranks 14th in MLB in average exit velocity.
Since arriving in Atlanta, Ozuna has quietly emerged as one of baseball's top home run hitters. He ranks seventh in all of MLB since 2020 with 111 long balls.
The Braves have never had a Derby champion, but have had 10 different players participate. Ozuna will join Dale Murphy, Ozzie Virgil Jr., David Justice, Fred McGriff, Chipper Jones, Javy Lopez, Gary Sheffield, Andruw Jones, Freddie Freeman and Ronald Acuna Jr. as Atlanta players to swing for the fences at the Midsummer Classic's dinger competition.
The 2024 event will look a little bit different, however, as MLB has switched up the rules.
The first round of the eight-batter tournament will no longer be a head-to-head bracket and instead will advance the four top scorers to the semifinals. Ties will be broken by the longest home run amongst batters in the first round, with three-minute rounds preceding the two-minute round in the finals.
The 2024 derby is set for July 15, starting at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT and can be seen on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ from Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
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