Major League Baseball is reportedly preparing another major change to the Home Run Derby format for 2026, with the event expected to move away from the clock for the first time since the timed format was introduced in 2015.
That timing matters because the winning total in 2015 was far lower than the biggest numbers produced in later editions of the modern event.
Cal Raleigh won the 2025 Home Run Derby with 54 total home runs, while the first year of the timed era produced a winning total of 39.
Recent Home Run Derby winners show the scale of the change
The 2015 comparison is the central stat behind the reported 2026 rule change.
Todd Frazier won the 2015 Home Run Derby with 39 total home runs. That was the first year of the timed format.
The peak totals came later. Pete Alonso hit 74 total home runs to win the 2021 Home Run Derby, while Vladimir Guerrero Jr. won with 72 total home runs in 2023.
Raleigh’s 54 in 2025 and Teoscar Hernandez’s 49 in 2024 were lower than those peaks, but both still sat above Frazier’s 2015 total.
The numbers do not prove that 2026 totals will fall. They do show why the removal of the clock could change how Derby performances are judged.
Reported 2026 format puts more pressure on each swing
The 2026 Home Run Derby is reportedly moving away from the clock, with hitters judged under a swing-count format instead.
The reported setup would give contestants 20 swings in the first round and 15 swings in the later rounds.
That is the key performance point. A clock-based format allows a hitter to build a total through pace, rhythm and repeated contact.
A swing cap creates a different challenge. Each miss, mishit or low-value swing carries more weight.
The change would not remove power from the event. It could make efficiency more important than volume.
That is why the 2015 total matters. The last major format reset produced a much lower winning number than the highest totals that followed, and 2026 may produce another shift in how the event is measured.
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