Six events are finished, hundreds of home runs have cleared the outfield walls, and it all comes down to this weekend: The Home Run Derby X finals in Salt Lake City. Beginning Friday night, eight teams -- four winning teams from the previous tour stops, along with four wild card teams of the best-performing players from the summer -- will face-off for bragging rights and a cash prize of $200,000.
"This is four years in the making," Home Run Derby X original Nick Swisher said. "The fact that we finally got a two-day tournament, eight teams, some of the best players [to] ever put on Major League uniform, some of the best players to ever play collegiately as well as professionally ... it's everything this game needs!"
While the teams knew they would be taking part at Salt Lake City (for more on that, click here), they didn't know who they would be facing. But after taking part in a blind draw, the final matchups were revealed on Thursday. Here's the breakdown:
Quarterfinal One: Nationals (Ian Desmond, Ali Newland, Ryan Zimmerman) vs. Royals (Mike Moustakas, Tiare Jennings, Bri Ellis)
The Nationals won two events -- quite handedly -- and are considered one of the favorites at this year's finals. Zimmerman is second among all players in total points this season with 86, while Desmond has the third-best single round score at 33. Newland's 33 total home runs is seventh-best in the tournament.
They'll need all those points to advance against the Royals. Though Moustakas and Jennings didn't win at the Kansas City event, they have plenty of pop. Jennings leads all female players in total points this season while Moustakas' 16-point round in K.C. stood out. Ellis is making her HRDX debut, but the slugger set the Arkansas Razorbacks school record with 26 home runs en route to being named the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year.
"Jonny Gomes said it best: 'It's not how far, it's how many,'" Moustakas said. "I mean, wall scrapers count just as much as the long ones do, so as long as they're going in the orange pylons [for double-point target hits], we're in a good spot. The altitude plays a factor. We're not going to wear ourselves out, but definitely try and watch some homers."
Quarterfinal Two: Salt Lake Bees (Cole Tucker, Hannah Flippen, José Reyes) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (Kevin Pillar, Rachel Garcia, Devon Travis)
It's an all new team assembled by the Bees who will be taking part at The Ballpark at America First Square. AUSL and Team USA softball star Flippen returns to Salt Lake City, where she starred at the University of Utah, while Tucker returns to the team he last played professionally for. (Tucker's final game was also the final game at the Bees' old stadium, Smith's Ballpark.) Reyes should also be a little fresh for his HRDX debut: He just lined up at the Mets' Old-Timers Day earlier this month.
The Bees will have to face the most recent HRDX victors. Pillar, Travis and Garcia upset the Kauffman Stadium faithful in the victory, showing off excellent glove work and talent up and down the lineup as Travis hit his first career walk-off for the victory. AUSL two-way star Garcia earned MVP Award honors after scoring 51 points on 27 home runs.
"I know it's very rare in baseball and softball to have those two-way players, but I knew that this is what I wanted," Garcia said. "I knew the hard work I had to put in, so I wasn't going to let a coach tell me that I couldn't pick one or the other. I knew that I was going to prove everybody wrong, and [pitchers] can swing too.
Quarterfinal Three: Cardinals (Adam Wainwright/Tyler Albright, Taylor Schumaker, Rick Ankiel) vs. Yankees (Nick Swisher, Jocelyn Alo, Todd Frazier)
Perhaps the contest to watch on Friday night. When these two teams faced off at HRDX: Des Moines, the Cardinals advanced with a narrow one-point win.
This time, though, the Cardinals will be without Wainwright, who earned MVP Award honors in Des Moines. Wainwright has a game to call for the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday, so he won't be arriving until -- and unless -- his team advances to the finals on Saturday. Not to worry, as the team will have the very capable Albright to fill in. Albright, a Duke University player, put up 27 points in Durham. He's joined by the reigning NFCA Freshman of the Year in Schumaker and former pitcher-turned-outfielder-slugger, Ankiel who scored 33.
The Yankees will bring plenty of juice: Swisher, who has been competing in HRDX since its start in 2022, has hit 34 home runs on the tour this season and his at-bat was crucial in keeping the Yankees in the Des Moines contest, punctuating a furious round with a crowd-pleasing bat toss. Alo, the all-time NCAA HR leader, regularly puts on shows with her display of power -- her 39 home runs are just in front of Swisher for fifth this season. Frazier, who competed in Round Rock, is the only player to have won the MLB Home Run Derby, a title he won at the 2015 All-Star Game.
"It's different when you put the pinstripes on," Frazier said. "Being from the East Coast and watching them play ever since I grew up -- the Paul O'Neills of the world, the Bernie Williams, the Derek Jeters, to name a few -- you emulated them, and you wanted to be them and say, 'I played for the team.'"
Quarterfinal Four: Team Wild Card (Chris McHugh, Jayda Coleman, Sydney Romero) vs. Dodgers (Adrián González, Mya Perez, Grady Emerson)
Team Wild Card -- wearing special orange HRDX uniforms with "Wild Card" spelled upside down -- features the three players who won previous tournaments while playing for teams that had already booked their spot in Salt Lake City. Now they're on their own team and will be looking to beat some old friends. McHugh represented the Nationals when he set a HRDX record with a 37-point round in Durham and the NC State ballplayer will be looking to top that this time around. Coleman and Romero -- two Oklahoma Sooners alums -- helped win against some old teammates in OKC alongside González. Now, they'll have to beat him.
"I think we already mesh really well," Romero said. "We're all pretty energetic, and we're excited to go up against Adrián."
It will be tough work. González has not only said that he wants to break McHugh's record, but he has the second-best round at 36 points and leads all players with 120 points this season. Perez is entering her junior season at Texas A&M and scored 19 points at Round Rock, while Emerson, rumored to be the first overall selection at next year's Draft, returns from winning gold with Team USA at the U-18 World Cup.