The Windup: A surprise Home Run Derby champ

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Just as nobody predicted, Teoscar Hernández is your new Home Run Derby champion. Ahead of tonight’s All-Star Game (8 p.m. ET, Fox), we have all the details, plus a lot more from derby/All-Star media day in Arlington, Texas. I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal — welcome to The Windup!

Home Run Derby: Favorites crash out early

They came, we saw, they blasted dingers, taters, longballs, round-trippers and moon shots.

By the time it was all said and done, Teoscar Hernández, 31, emerged victorious in the Home Run Derby, hitting 14 home runs in the last round to out-tank the 24-year-old Bobby Witt Jr. The stadium was loud and echo-y (perhaps we can blame that anthem on the acoustics?), and the atmosphere was … well, it wasn’t playoff-baseball intense (until the very end), but it was still a good time for the 38,578 who showed up.

Observations!

• Two-time champ and presumptive favorite Pete Alonso finished with just 12 home runs in the first round, the second-lowest total of the eight first-round competitors, beating only Gunnar Henderson (11). Joining them with first-round exits: Marcell Ozuna (16) and hometown favorite Adolis García (18).
• In the second round, Witt (17) eliminated José Ramírez (12), while Alec Bohm and Hernández (14) tied and went to a swing-off, with Hernández advancing, 2-1. He managed just 13 in the final round, leaving Witt — who was drafted out of Colleyville Heritage High School, just 10.9 miles north of Globe Life Field — to take the final hacks of the night. As he pulled to within one, the crowd did get playoff loud, but his final fly ball bounced off the left-center field wall. By the slimmest of margins, Hernández was the winner.
• The new format: I’ll defer to the folks who watched on TV, but in person, I think it still dragged a bit, and I think it was the “bonus rounds” that made it feel that way, at least in the stadium. Guys got applause after they finished … only to step right back in and take more hacks. I think if I could make one final tweak, I’d say: No bonus pitches in the first or second rounds.

All told, it was a good — if very chaotic — day. Chad Jennings has a blow-by-blow write-up of Hernández’s big night with quotes from the participants, and Jayson Stark breaks down how Hernández won.

Ken’s Notebook: Notes on four of tonight’s All-Stars

Paul Skenes. Usually, the All-Star Game starters are announced the day before the event, as Corbin Burnes was for the American League on Monday. MLB, though, made an exception for Skenes.

NL manager Torey Lovullo informed Skenes of the honor Friday on the “Dan Patrick Show.” This way, the league got to build excitement for the game and eliminate the possibility of a news leak. The Pirates preferred Skenes starting so he can do his normal pregame routine rather than enter as a reliever.

Reynaldo López. The 30-year-old thought he would spend the rest of his career as a reliever, but his wife, Jhilaris, believed he could start again. When López sat down last September with his agent, Gio Rodriguez, Jhilaris attended the meeting and said, “Let’s find a team that will give him an opportunity to start.”

The Braves were the only team to extend such an offer. After López’s fellow players elected him an All-Star, Jhilaris told him, “You see? As a reliever you were not going to make the All-Star Game.”

Luis Arráez. The Padres infielder told reporters Sunday that he would not play in the game because of a jammed left thumb, but MLB did not replace him on the NL roster. While Arráez will not hit, he is available to play in the field.

This is Arráez’s third straight All-Star Game — with a third different team — and he said it will be by far his most meaningful. His father, Ernesto, mother Maria and older sister Normelis, all of whom live in Venezuela, will see him play as an All-Star for the first time.

Ernesto and Maria had not even seen Luis play professionally until they visited Miami last September. It was their first visit to the U.S. Previously, they had difficulty getting visas.

Jurickson Profar. Going back to Texas for his first All-Star Game makes it even more special. Profar considers Texas a second home, and both his 6-year-old son and 4-month-old daughter were born there. Why Texas for his daughter, considering that he now plays for the Padres? Profar and his wife, Ravoika, liked the hospital where their first child was born so much, they wanted the same care for their second.

Considering the Padres signed Profar to a one-year, $1 million free-agent contract after spring training already had started, he qualifies as one of the most surprising All-Stars. He was Baseball America’s No. 1 prospect in 2013, but injuries slowed his development. Eleven years later, he will play in his first All-Star Game.

“I always thought I was this player,” Profar said. “In my mind, I’m an All-Star. And finally, it’s showing.”

Windup in the Wild: Notes from media day

It was a frenzied day at Globe Life Field yesterday, as local and national media — plus local media from every MLB market — descended upon the park in Arlington, Texas.

The day began with a news conference featuring both managers and both one starting pitcher (Corbin Burnes’ wife just had twins, so congratulations to the Burnes family!). The lineups were revealed, with only two real items of note:

• Each manager got to write his own second baseman into the lineup. Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo has Ketel Marte leading off, while Bruce Bochy of the Rangers put Marcus Semien ninth. Bochy chuckled as he said he talked to Semien about it and the second baseman told him, “Well, if you look at the numbers, that’s where I belong.”
• I’ll leave the research to Jayson Stark and the Weird & Wild department to tell you if this is all that strange, but both teams feature teammates hitting in the third and fourth spots: Juan Soto and Aaron Judge for the Yankees on the AL side; Trea Turner and Bryce Harper of the Phillies for the NL.

The league held media availability on the outfield turf, setting up miniature booths for each player. Here are a few quotes of interest:

• Jurickson Profar is one of 37 first-time All-Stars, as Ken alluded to. On making his first All-Star Game — and playing in Arlington, where he had once been expected to be a franchise player — he had this to say, through chuckles: “I’m not, emotionally, that kind of person. I’m only emotional when I play baseball. So I’m just very happy … this is rewarding.”
• Elly De La Cruz, on AL hitters facing Paul Skenes: “It’s not gonna be easy for them … the splitter looks like a sinker. He’s got good stuff. There’s not a lot you can do, you just have to react — be on time for the fastball.” Tyler Kepner talked to others who agreed.
• I also asked De La Cruz what he was most looking forward to from the experience of his first All-Star Game. “I would like to speak Japanese to Shohei Ohtani … but I don’t speak Japanese.” I don’t know why, but this was the funniest thing I heard yesterday.
• Bryce Harper, on his hope that MLB players would be able to play baseball in the 2028 Olympics: “I hope. You want to grow the game, right? Why not grow it at the peak of (sports)? Growing up, playing Junior Olympics, putting the nation’s colors on your chest. There’s nothing like it, no greater feeling than your country winning and hearing your anthem last. I’m hoping we can get something done. It’s tough, logistically, but it would be a lot of fun to get baseball there and have the best players there, representing their country.”

Handshakes and High Fives

Day 2 — rounds 3-10 — of the draft were held yesterday, and rounds 11-20 will take place today. Here are a few more links from our coverage:

Patrick Mooney did a retrospective on the Cubs’ 2014 draft, which included Kyle Schwarber, Justin Steele and Dylan Cease.

There are two weeks left before the trade deadline — here’s a look at who’s trending up, down, and sideways as we press onward.

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(Photo: Benny Sieu / USA Today)