{"id":751167,"date":"2026-07-14T02:39:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T02:39:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/751167\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T02:39:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T02:39:15","slug":"red-sox-willson-contreras-hits-490-ft-homer-in-electric-mlb-home-run-derby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/751167\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Sox’ Willson Contreras hits 490-ft homer in electric MLB Home Run Derby"},"content":{"rendered":"

Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras led off the opening round of the 2026 MLB Home Run Derby at Philadelphia\u2019s Citizens Bank Park with 13 blasts on 20 swings.<\/p>\n

Including a 490-footer that traveled further than any of the Round 1 home runs hit by Cardinals\u2019 Jordan Walker (13), Royals\u2019 Jac Caglianone (8), White Sox\u2019 Munetaka Murakami (9), Yankees\u2019 Ben Rice (7), Rays\u2019 Junior Caminero (12), and Phillies teammates Kyle Schwarber (10) and Bryce Harper (8).<\/p>\n

One of Caminero\u2019s 12 traveled 487 feet, tying Contreras\u2019 second-longest. They advanced to the semifinals along with Walker and Schwarber. The new format allots 15 swings per contestant in the semis and final round; Caminero clubbed five, Walker six.<\/p>\n

\"BostonBoston Red Sox’s Willson Contreras competes during the MLB baseball All-Star Home Run Derby, Monday, July 13, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo\/Matt Rourke)<\/p>\n

A decade ago, Schwarber and Contreras were teammates on the 2016 World Series champion Chicago Cubs. Monday night they squared off in the semis. After Schwarber hit nine, he and Contreras embraced at home plate before the latter took his turn.<\/p>\n

Phillies fans booed loudly as Contreras began to swing, only cheering when several of his batted balls failed to leave the yard.<\/p>\n

Contreras heated up as the swing count dropped, but fell short of the finals by one. His first- and second-round homers were among the most electric of the night though, including a moonshot that clanged off the top of the left-field foul pole in the semis.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gets to you for sure, especially with this humidity,\u201d Contreras\u2019 told MLB Network\u2019s Lauren Shehadi after his first round performance. \u201cBut it was fun. At the end of the day, I think I did a good job, and I\u2019m here just to have fun and enjoy the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boston\u2019s first baseman, 34, slashed .285\/.379\/.542 in 88 games in the first half to earn his fourth All-Star honors in 11 big-league seasons (and there was no ASG in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic).<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m always trying to do my job,\u201d Contreras said, \u201cand play for Venezuela.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was Contreras\u2019 added motivation. His heart and mind are in his native Venezuela as the country reels from last month\u2019s twin earthquakes. Asked what he wanted to tell Venezuelans at home, Contreras answered.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat I love them,\u201d Contreras said. \u201cThey know that my heart was there, is with them. I know that I\u2019m here physically, but I always think of them, and I\u2019ve been trying to help the best I can, the best way I can. And it\u2019s really tough, what we\u2019ve been through, but you know what? Venezuela is going to be big again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Contreras will play in the All-Star Game Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET, on FOX ONE and FOX Sports.<\/p>\n

\"WillsonWillson Contreras of the Boston Red Sox competes during the 2026 Home Run Derby at Citizens Bank Park on July 13, 2026 in Philadelphia. (Photo by Chris Graythen\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras led off the opening round of the 2026 MLB Home Run…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":751168,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5,48,4,13669,29150,40646,409],"class_list":["post-751167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-baseball","tag-boston-red-sox","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-all-star-game","tag-mlb-home-run-derby","tag-netflix","tag-willson-contreras"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116916018695881599","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=751167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/751168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=751167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=751167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=751167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}