Indiana University baseball legend Kyle Schwarber has been a part of some classic baseball moments, including IU’s trip to the 2013 College World Series and the Chicago Cubs first World Series title since 1908.
While nothing may ever compare to that 2016 Cubs title, Schwarber will have the opportunity to participate in another great baseball tradition on Monday night. The Ohio native will be one of eight participants in the 2018 Major League Baseball Home Run Derby. You can see the full bracket here:
According to MLB.com, Schwarber is one of seven players to hit a home run at least 117 mph this season, and he has hit the Cubs’ three hardest home runs since Statcast™ began tracking, including a record 117.1-mph exit velocity on April 24 in Cleveland.
You can see all 17 of his home runs thus far this season here:
For his MLB career, Schwarber has hit 63 home runs.
Selected in the first round of the 2014 MLB Draft (fourth overall) by the Chicago Cubs, Schwarber was the highest draft pick in Indiana baseball history.
He was a two-time First Team All-American for the Hoosiers. According to IU, Schwarber ranks fifth all-time at IU in slugging percentage (.607), sixth in home runs (40), eighth in hits (238) and tied for eighth in triples (12) and runs (182). He earned All-Big Ten honors all three years he played for the Hoosiers and for his career batted .341 in 180 games played.
The Home Run Derby is Monday night at 8:00 PM EST on ESPN.
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Here are the official Home Run Derby rules from MLB.com:
Bracket Format:
• Single-elimination tournament in which loser of each bracket is eliminated.
Timing:
• Four minutes per batter, per round. Timer starts with release of the first pitch.
• A round ends when the timer strikes zero. A home run shall count provided the pitch was released before the timer strikes zero.
• A pitcher cannot throw a pitch until a batted ball has hit the ground, was caught or left the field of play in foul territory.
Bonus Time:
• Thirty seconds of bonus time awarded for two home runs that each equal or exceed 440 feet.
• Distances will be tracked and posted using MLB Advanced Media’s Statcast™ powered by AWS.
• Any bonus time awarded will be added at the end of the initial four-minute round, and the timer will not stop during the bonus time period.
Scoring/Advancement:
• Batter with most home runs hit in each matchup will advance to next round.
• Ties in any round will be broken by a 60-second swing-off with no stoppage of time or additional time added; if a tie remains after the swing-off, batters will engage in successive three-swing swing-offs until there is a winner.
• If the second batter hits more than the first batter in any matchup, he will be declared winner and not attempt to hit additional home runs.
• Each batter entitled to one 45-second “time out” in the first round and semi-finals. Each batter entitled to two “time outs” in the final round – a 45-second time out first, and then a 30-second time out.
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