Kyle Schwarber Loses 2026 Home Run Derby Final; Bryce Harper Eliminated In First Round
Kyle Schwarber #12 of the Philadelphia Phillies reacts after competing in the finals of the 2026 Home Run Derby at Citizens Bank Park on July 13, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
Kyle Schwarber put on a show in his home ballpark, but it was just not enough as Cardinals left fielder Jordan Walker beat out Kyle Schwarber in the 2026 Home Run Derby Final.
With Citizens Bank Park tapped as the host for the 2026 All-Star Game, along with that came hosting the 2026 Home Run Derby, and of course, not one but two Phillies sluggers elected to participate in the derby.
Schwarber, who leads all of baseball with 32 home runs, was one contestant, while Bryce Harper, who has 20 bombs this year, was the other. For Schwarber, this is the third Home Run Derby that he’s participated in, the previous two being in 2018 in Washington, D.C., at National Park and in 2022 in Los Angeles at Dodgers Stadium. Schwarber lost both those derbies, losing in the Finals in 2018 and in the first round in 2022.
As for Harper, he’s competed in just one Home Run Derby, the 2018 contest, just like Schwarber. At that time, Nationals Park was Harper’s home ballpark, as that season was his final season with the Nationals before signing with the Phillies that offseason. Harper ended up winning the 2018 derby, beating Schwarber on a walk-off bomb.
However, Schwarber got the last laugh this time around, taking the final spot over Harper in the first round, Schwarbombing his way all the way to the Finals. However, Schwarber just couldn’t finish the job, losing to Walker 12-11 in the final round.
Schwarber and Harper were slated to go seventh and eighth in the first round, forcing them to wait to see what scores they’d have to beat to get through to the semifinals. The format changed compared to prior derbies, giving participants swings instead of a running clock. Round one saw players get 20 swings, and Wilson Contreras and Walker set the mark, each smacking 13 dingers.
A slow patch came with Jac Caglianone, Munetaka Murakami and Ben Rice all hitting fewer than 10 bombs, but with Junior Caminero smacking 12 bombs, Schwarber and Harper each needed 13 homers for both to make the semis.
Schwarber was up first, and his first few swings saw a few bombs but a slowish start. After getting warmed up, he went home run hunting, knocking bomb after bomb into the right field seats. The second deck wasn’t safe as the Schwarbarian smoked 450+ foot bombs into them, finishing with 10 total homers after his 20 swings.
So with Schwarber being in fourth place following his 10 home run round, that meant only one Phillie would make it to the second round of the derby. The ball went into Harper’s court, needing 11 home runs to beat Schwarber and move on to the semifinals.
Harper started out slow during his turn, hitting just one home run in his first five at-bats, but eventually got going with a few jacks in a row, including a 482-foot jack to right-centerfield.
As Harper moved into the second half of swings, the tiredness from the Showman started to grow as the distances began to shorten and the number of pitches taken began to increase. After belting home run number eight, Harper needed back-to-back bombs to at least tie Schwarber. However, his final swing just missed the wall in center field, eliminating Harper from the derby but advancing Schwarber to the semifinals.
Schwarber’s 10 home runs finished him with the fourth most bombs, placing him in a matchup against Wilson Contreras, who smacked 13 and had the farthest home run in the first round at 490 feet.
After Walker defeated Caminero in one of the semifinal matchups, up came Schwarber to set the pace for Contreras. Schwarber got off slow, missing his first four pitches, but eventually got on a roll. He smacked seven bombs over his next nine swings, giving him three swings left. After back-to-back bombs for nine total, the balls switched over to the magenta extra ball, and unfortunately, Schwarber popped it up, ending his round at nine total.
So Schwarber now had to wait to see his fate, and it was a cruel task. The Philly faithful did their best to boo as loud as they could to get Contreras off his rhythm, and for the first six swings. Contreras eventually got hot, hitting moonshots including a 461-bomb into the second deck.
Contreras had six homers with four swings left and quickly made it eight homers with one swing remaining. After taking his time, Contreras eventually popped up to center, ending his semifinal round with eight, advancing Schwarber to the Finals vs Walker.
Schwarber, being the lower seed, put him back at the plate. Now warmed up after just hitting in the semifinals, he looked locked and loaded right away.
Swing after swing, the home runs kept coming from Schwarber in a long way as well, getting to nine bombs through 11 swings. Closing out his round, Schwarber smacked two more homers for 11 total, giving him a fantastic Finals performance. Out of the 11 home runs Schwarber hit, seven of the homers went into the second deck in right field.
So it all came down to Walker, who had over 46,000 of the majority Philadelphia faithful booing him as loud as they could. The boos worked, causing Walker to struggle to find a rhythm to start, but he eventually got going. Walker got to seven all of a sudden with less than four swings left and then went to eight with just one swing left.
The last swing allowed hitters to hit as many homers in a row as they could, and Walker took full advantage of that rule. Needing three bombs to tie, Walker got them right away, tying the Finals at 11 all. After taking his time, Walker eventually smoked a 407-foot bomb to left field to win the derby over Schwarber.
Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
Get New Articles Emailed Right To Your Inbox:
