Home Run Derby 2026: Jordan Walker stuns Philly crowd and Kyle Schwarber to emerge as unlikely champion

PHILADELPHIA — Jordan Walker just delivered the most impressive buzzkill in Home Run Derby history.

The Cardinals’ outfielder, in the midst of a breakout 2026 season, needed to smash homers on six consecutive swings to come back in the final against hometown favorite Kyle Schwarber. With a sold-out crowd booing his every move, that’s exactly what he did. 

Each long ball off Walker’s bat pushed what was a cauldron of noise closer and closer to sounding like an abandoned library. The tension grew and grew. Schwarber, surrounded by a throng of Phillies teammates beyond the first-base dugout, slowly realized that Walker simply wasn’t going to lose.

As the sixth and final blast left Walker’s Iron Man-themed lumber, he raised the bat above his head with two hands, a look of sheer disbelief on his face. Then he erupted.

“COME ON, BABY!” he hollered toward the heavens before galloping over to the other Cardinals assembled at these All-Star festivities.

For Walker, a former top prospect who struggled mightily over an extended stretch before finally coming into his own this season, it was a celebration years in the making. Not even four months ago, the 24-year-old seemed closer to “bust” than Home Run Derby hero. Now he has 22 home runs at the All-Star break for a surprisingly in-the-mix Cardinals team.

After his victory Monday, Walker’s parents, Derek and Katrina, donning jerseys that read “Jordan’s Dad” and “Jordan’s Mom,” went ballistic in the stands as a supremely disappointed Philadelphia crowd headed to the exits.

"I was once told you don't boo nobodies, so it feels pretty good," he proclaimed on the broadcast when asked how it felt to be booed by 40,000.

While the night was a tough bounce for the city of Philadelphia, it proved to be a massive win for MLB’s new Home Run Derby format. This year's edition was the first streamed exclusively on Netflix, which prompted a reworking of the event’s structure. The Derby clock, in place since 2015, was nixed in favor of a swing-based format: 20 hacks in the first round, 15 in the semifinals and finals.

However, a player who went deep on his final opportunity could continue swinging for the fences. The thought was that if a guy caught fire and crawled his way out of a massive deficit, it would make for phenomenal theater.

Well, Rob Manfred should toss Jordan Walker (who is earning $799,400 this season) more than the $1 million in prize money he took home on Monday. Because the new format was looking like something of a dud until Walker more than delivered, with four stunning blasts on his final swing.

With Netflix streaming the event, MLB also went full camp for this Derby. The pregame festivities featured players emerging from sedan-sized, cardboard liberty bells as legendary PA announcer Michael Buffer bellowed the introductions. Each contestant strolled across the infield dirt and then lifted himself into a home-plate-shaped, American flag-themed boxing ring. When Harper, the final player introduced, entered the stage and hoisted himself onto the ring rail like a WWE character, the home crowd went absolutely berserk.

About 90 minutes later, the main event made his disappointingly early exit. Swinging a bat meant to resemble the hunk of meat from the freezer scene in “Rocky,” Harper made three outs before smoking a homer. He got on a bit of a roll, going dead-center over the batter’s eye and dispatching one beyond the bullpen in right-center, but it was nowhere near enough. No hitter took more time between swings than Harper, whose methodical approach probably hurt him. 

His night ended after eight home runs in the first round, exiting alongside Ben Rice, Jac Caglianone and Munetaka Murakami. But even though the evening’s expected main event ended up being more of a subplot, the WWE-style theater came through.

Schwarber, the hometown hero who did just enough to clear the first round, advanced from a dramatic, 9-8 semifinal against Willson Contreras, who seemed to feed off the boos that rained down on him. Then Schwarber delivered his strongest showing in his final round. Philadelphia’s endearingly gruff designated hitter caught absolute fire, mashing 11 Schwarbombs into the right-field stands. When the dust settled, Schwarber had smacked 30 homers across his 50 allocated swings.

For a beat, it certainly appeared that the beloved designated hitter would be the story at his home ballpark. At that point, Walker had yet to emerge from the bowels of Citizens Bank Park, but the evening’s result felt like a foregone conclusion.

Instead, it was Walker, the heel, who flipped the script and emerged victorious. St. Louis’ towering slugger, the competitor least fazed by the raucous Philly crowd and the first Cardinal ever to win the Derby, sent tens of thousands of fans home disappointed — but with a stellar memory.