Dodger Stadium is usually a place where the lights feel a little brighter, but on July 18, the air was different. It was heavy. Humid, even for Los Angeles. People weren't just there for the hot dogs or the celebrity sightings; they were there to see if a 23-year-old kid from the Dominican Republic could handle the weight of a franchise—and a massive contract dispute—on his shoulders while swinging for the moon. The 2022 Home Run Derby wasn't just a contest. It was a statement.
Juan Soto won.
He didn't just win; he survived a bracket that felt like a gauntlet of the league's most terrifying power hitters.
The Story Everyone Missed About the 2022 Home Run Derby
Most fans remember the trophies. They remember the long balls. But the context of the 2022 Home Run Derby is what made it legendary. Juan Soto arrived in LA amidst a firestorm of rumors. He had just turned down a $440 million contract extension from the Washington Nationals. Every reporter in the building wanted to talk about trades. Soto? He wanted to talk about exit velocity.
He went out there and beat Julio Rodríguez in the final. It was a clash of titans. Or rather, a clash of the next generation.
Julio was the story for most of the night. The Seattle Mariners rookie put up 32 homers in the first round alone. Imagine being 21 years old, standing at the plate in Hollywood, and just effortlessly launching balls into the seats while Albert Pujols—a literal living god of the sport—watches from the dugout. Rodríguez hit 81 home runs total across the entire night. Soto hit 53. But because of the way the bracket works, Soto’s 19 in the final round were enough to edge out Julio’s 18.
Sports are weird like that. You can do more work and still come home with the silver.
Pete Alonso and the Three-Peat That Wasn't
Everyone expected Pete Alonso to walk away with it. The "Polar Bear" was hunting for his third straight title. He treats the derby like it’s the seventh game of the World Series. He has a dedicated pitcher, a specific breathing routine, and a look in his eyes that scares standard baseballs.
Then he ran into Julio.
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Rodríguez bounced Alonso in the semifinals, 31 to 23. It felt like a changing of the guard. The back-to-back champ was out, and suddenly, the bracket was wide open for the youngsters. Alonso looked stunned, but honestly, that’s the beauty of the 2022 Home Run Derby. It broke the script. It wasn't the veteran powerhouse standing at the end; it was two guys who hadn't even reached their prime.
The Albert Pujols Moment
We have to talk about Albert.
The 2022 season was his "Last Dance." He was 42. He shouldn't have been in a home run derby. Conventional wisdom says the derby ruins your swing or wears out your old bones. But Albert is Albert. He went up against Kyle Schwarber in the first round. Schwarber was the top seed. He had 29 home runs at the break.
Pujols hit 13. Then, in a moment that felt scripted by a Hollywood intern, he found a second wind in the tiebreaker.
The entire National League and American League rosters emptied onto the field to hug him. It didn't matter who you played for. Seeing the "Machine" launch a few more into the night sky was enough to make grown men cry. He actually beat Schwarber. He advanced! He eventually lost to Soto in the semis, but the victory over Schwarber was the emotional peak of the evening.
Breaking Down the Numbers (The Real Ones)
If you look at the raw data from the 2022 Home Run Derby, the distances were staggering.
Soto’s longest blast traveled 482 feet. That’s not a baseball hit; that’s a small satellite launch. Julio Rodríguez averaged 410 feet on his homers. The consistency was what killed people. It wasn't just about the one-off "moonshots." It was about the ability to repeat a violent, high-intensity mechanical motion every 4 seconds for three minutes straight.
It’s exhausting. You see players calling timeouts, dousing themselves in water, and literally gasping for air. By the time Soto got to the finals, he looked like he’d been through a boxing match. But his swing stayed short. He didn't get "long" or loopy like most hitters do when they tire out.
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The strategy in 2022 shifted.
Hitters started realizing that the bonus time—earned by hitting two homers over 440 feet—was the only way to win. Soto knew this. He didn't hunt every ball. He waited for the ones he could drive.
Why the 2022 Home Run Derby Still Matters for Collectors
If you're into the hobby, the 2022 event was a goldmine. The "Soto Derby Win" cards and the Julio Rodríguez "Coming Out Party" rookie cards spiked immediately after. It validated the hype. Sometimes these events are duds. 2022 was the opposite. It was the moment the "Next Gen" of MLB stars officially stopped being prospects and started being icons.
Misconceptions About the Night
A lot of people think Soto won because he was the "best" hitter there.
That’s debatable.
Julio Rodríguez hit almost 30 more home runs than Soto over the course of the night. If this were a total volume competition, Julio wins in a landslide. But the 2022 Home Run Derby is a tournament. It’s about winning the head-to-head. Soto was efficient. He did exactly what he needed to do to advance in each round without burning his tank too early. It was a veteran performance from a 23-year-old.
Also, people say the balls were "juiced."
MLB always faces these accusations during the derby. While the balls used in the derby are definitely different than standard game balls—mostly because they aren't stored in humidors in the same way—the power displayed by Soto and Rodríguez was legitimate. These guys hit 115 mph exit velocity in their sleep.
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The Pitcher Factor
Never overlook the pitcher. Soto had Jorge Mejia throwing to him. The chemistry was perfect. A bad derby pitcher is like a bad quarterback; if the ball isn't in the "sweet spot," the hitter has to generate all the torque themselves, which leads to early fatigue. Mejia was a machine. He put the ball in the same six-inch square for three hours.
Actionable Takeaways for Baseball Fans
If you're looking back at the 2022 Home Run Derby to understand the current state of baseball, there are a few things you should actually do.
First, go watch the Statcast broadcast if you can find the archives. The traditional broadcast is fine, but the Statcast version shows the launch angles and the apex of these hits. It explains why Soto won. His launch angle was incredibly consistent, whereas guys like Ronald Acuña Jr. (who also competed) were hitting balls too high, wasting energy on "towering" flies that didn't have the distance.
Second, look at the career trajectories since that night. Soto's win was a precursor to his eventual move to the Padres and then the Yankees. It showed he could handle the biggest stage under the most intense media scrutiny possible.
Finally, use the 2022 Derby as a blueprint for scouting power. We often look at home run totals in a season, but the derby shows you "raw" power—the ability to generate force without the pitcher providing the velocity. Soto and Rodríguez are the gold standard here.
To really appreciate what happened, you have to stop looking at the 2022 Home Run Derby as a spectacle and start looking at it as a high-end athletic endurance test. It changed how teams look at young hitters. It proved that the "kids" were ready to own the league.
Check the tape of Soto’s final round. Watch his breathing. Watch his feet. That’s how you win when the world is watching.