Vladimir Guerrero Jr. elected to not participate in this year’s Home Run Derby, which was a bit of a bummer because we all wanted to see him crush baseballs through Denver’s altitude (he saved that for the actual All-Star Game).
But that didn’t mean that he wasn’t heavily focused on Monday’s epic Home Run Derby.
The first round between the Nationals’ Juan Soto and Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani went into two tiebreaker rounds. The first tiebreaker was an extra minute while the second tiebreaker was limited to three swings.
There was a lot riding on those three swings, but before Soto went 3 for 3 in the swing-off, Guerrero seemed to be the one to offer some crucial advice to the 22-year-old.
We mic'd up Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto in the #HRDerby and they didn't disappoint.
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— MLB (@MLB) July 14, 2021
In mic’d-up MLB video from the Home Run Derby, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Guerrero gave Soto a pep talk before that final swing-off. Guerrero said (translated to English):
“It’s three swings. Take your time. Boom. You hit it. Take your time, breathe and get back to it. Don’t just swing. Take your time.”
And then Tatis finished it off with “in slow motion!”
Hey, it was solid advice, and Soto took it to heart. He chose the exact three pitches he wanted to drive and put the pressure on Ohtani with the perfect tiebreaker round. Ohtani would get eliminated on his first swing.
But overall, that was an excellent look at the friendly atmosphere between the game’s biggest stars in Denver. You love to see that.
Of course, no participant could stop the Mets’ Pete Alonso and the real MVP … his BP pitcher Dave Jauss.
https://youtu.be/pgHz7vbqMWw