Ten years ago, the Kansas City Royals made history: After falling to the Giants in a seven-game classic in 2014, the Royals returned to the World Series the next year and gave the people of Kansas City its second championship. Led by World Series MVP Salvador Perez and a roster of homegrown stars, the Royals took down the New York Mets in five games.
To celebrate that World Series championship, MLB’s Home Run Derby X -- a fast-paced, co-ed, three-on-three version of the classic derby -- is headed to Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium on Saturday with some of the most beloved players in team history participating. Team legends and 2015 champs Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain, Alex Gordon and Ben Zobrist will all be participating in hopes of mashing dingers and earning a spot in this year’s finals in Salt Lake City.
To get there, they’ll need to beat the same teams they had to in the 2015 postseason: Daniel Murphy and Michael Cuddyer will be joining to represent the New York Mets, while the Toronto Blue Jays’ roster will be led by Devon Travis and Kevin Pillar.
The MLB stars will be joined by some of the best players in women’s baseball and softball, with Athletes Unlimited Softball League's Amanda Lorenz and four-time Women’s College World Series champion Tiare Jennings among the women who will be joining to bash home runs.
Here's the full rosters, which will see the Royals' infield hoping to reign supreme over their outfield brethren.
You can buy tickets here or click here for more information on the tournament.
Royals Infield
Eric Hosmer
The Royals don't win the 2015 World Series without Hosmer. The first baseman, who played for the Royals from 2011-17, drove in 17 runs in the 2015 postseason and scored 10 runs on his own. That included a scamper from third base to tie the game in the ninth inning in the clinching Game 5 against the Mets.
Hosmer finished his big league career with 198 career home runs and will be looking to smash some more in front of the Royals faithful this weekend.
Mike Moustakas
The second overall pick in the 2007 MLB Draft, the man affectionately known as "Moose" teamed with Hosmer to hold down the corners of the Kansas City infield through its greatest successes. Playing for Kansas City from 2011-2018, Moustakas was selected to three All-Star Games and was tied for fifth in the American League with 38 home runs in 2017.
Moustakas finished his career with 215 big league blasts -- 139 of them coming with the Royals.
Amanda Lorenz (last OKC)
The 2024 Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball champion, Lorenz finished the season tied for the batting title with a .373 average while adding three home runs. Before that, Lorenz was a star softball player at the University of Florida, winning the NFCA National Freshman of the Year Award in 2016, taking home the SEC Player of the Year honor in '18 and she was a four-time First team All-American. Last year, she took home the MVP Award at HRDX: Durham, scoring 28 points in the final. This summer, she also won a gold medal with Team USA Softball at the World Games in China and played in the AUSL All-Star Cup.
Royals Outfield
Ben Zobrist
Zobrist forever changed baseball, turning the multi-position ballplayer from bench player to crucial team star. Zobrist was traded from the A's to the Royals midway through the 2015 and he quickly took over at second base, batting behind Alcides Escobar for Kansas City's World Series run. Zobrist hit .303 in the postseason for the Royals while hitting two home runs and scoring 15 runs.
Zobrist most recently was seen playing HRDX in Iowa City, where he scored 16 points on eight home runs.
Lorenzo Cain
Brought to Kansas City in the trade that sent Zack Greinke to the Brewers, Cain quickly cemented himself as a fixture in the Kauffman Stadium outfield. Playing for the Royals from 2011-17, Cain hit 56 home runs, stole 120 bases and displayed sterling defense in the outfield. He showed off that glove while representing the Royals at HRDX: Oklahoma City, sprinting across the outfield to steal some catch points for his team.
Cain finished his career with two All-Star Game appearances and a Gold Glove Award.
Ashton Lansdell
A HRDX veteran since 2022, Lansdell has seen and done it all on the ballfield -- even taking a star turn for the Savannah Bananas. A trailblazing infielder, Lansdell made the USA Baseball roster at just 17 years old in 2018 and was the first woman to play baseball at the NJCAA level in 2021. After switching her focus to softball, she played at FIU for two seasons before helping Ole Miss advance to the Women's College World Series for the first time in program history. The Marietta, Ga., native hit seven home runs for Ole Miss.
She's most recently been seen with the Party Animals the Banana Ball league.
New York Mets
Daniel Murphy
Murphy went off in the 2015 postseason. The slugging second baseman hammered three homers against the Dodgers in the NLDS before going supernova in the NLCS against the Cubs. Murphy slashed .529/.556/1.294 with four home runs to earn the NLCS MVP Award in the Mets' sweep.
Murphy was a three-time All-Star and led the league in walks in 2016-17.
Tiare Jennings
The former Sooners superstar won four Women's College World Series championships in her time at the school, collecting First Team All-American and Women's College World Series All-Tournament Team honors in each of her seasons. Jennings smashed 98 home runs during her four seasons in Norman before joining the independent Oklahoma City Spark.
Though the Sooners weren't able to win at the OKC event, Jennings put up 32 points on 18 homers across two rounds.
Michael Cuddyer
An all-around hitter with a penchant for a big blast, Cuddyer hit 20-plus home runs four times in his big league career, smashing a career-high 32 with the Twins in 2009. A two-time All-Star, Cuddyer also won the 2013 National League batting title after hitting .331 with the Rockies.
Cuddyer's final big league season came with the Mets in 2015 as he helped the team win the National League pennant with 10 home runs during the regular season. And hey, who knows, maybe he's got a magic trick or two up his sleeve for the crowd in Kansas City ...
Toronto Blue Jays
Kevin Pillar
Be wary, any hitters who are hoping to get baseballs past Pillar. The 13-year big league veteran, who came out of retirement to play 20 games for the Rangers earlier this year, is known for his ability to run down anything and everything hit near his grasp. His defensive played earned him the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year honor in center field in 2015.
Pillar also hit 114 home runs and stole 111 bases during his MLB career.
Devon Travis
Travis couldn't have done much more in his rookie season. Making his big league debut on Opening Day in 2015 against the Yankees, Travis hit a home run in his debut. At the end of April, he was slashing .325/.393/.625 with six home runs, earning him American League Rookie of the Month honors. Unfortunately, injuries plagued him the rest of the season and limited Travis to just 62 games that year.
A runner-up in the 2003 Little League World Series, Travis finished his big league career with 35 home runs in 316 games before retiring and entering the coaching ranks with the Atlanta Braves.
Rachel Garcia
Garcia may be one of the most decorated pitchers in softball history: the former UCLA Bruins star helped the team win the 2019 College World Series; collected the Honda Sports Award, USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year and NFCA National Player of the Year awards in 2018 and '19; and earned the Honda Cup award as the top female athlete in 2019 and '21. This past year, in the AUSL, the Team USA softball star was selected fourth overall by the Volts before later being selected to the league's All-Star Cup.
Just as Adam Wainwright proved in Des Moines, Iowa, Garcia will also be looking to show that pitchers can rake: She hit .337 with 43 home runs at UCLA and will be looking to launch a few more dingers in Kansas City.