Home Run Derby 2019: Breaking Down Bracket's Top Participants

Six Major League Baseball players with 20 home runs or more will square off in Monday's Home Run Derby.

League leader Christian Yelich was forced to withdraw from the competition due to a back issue, leaving two of the five best home run hitters in MLB in the eight-man event.

The bracket, which was seeded by the most home runs of the eight original participants, did not change with Yelich's departure, as Matt Chapman took his place against Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the first round. 

The field is split evenly with four sluggers from the American and National Leagues vying to follow in Bryce Harper's footsteps as Home Run Derby champion.

After Yelich's withdrawal from the competition Sunday, Pete Alonso has the most home runs of any Home Run Derby participant.

Alonso is tied with Cody Bellinger for second place on the home run chart behind Yelich with 30 dingers in 89 games. 

The rookie first baseman comes into the slugging competition with home runs in two of his last three games, which should give him a bit of a confidence boost for Monday night. 

Alonso has been a consistent hitter at the plate for the New York Mets, but he has not knocked balls out of the park at a high volume in short spans. 

The first-year player has two multiple home run games and he only has three stretches of home runs in back-to-back contests. 

As a right-handed hitter at Progressive Field, Alonso could have a slight advantage since the fence in left-center field sits at 370 feet compared to the right-center field fence at 375 feet. 

Although it is a slight difference, it could make an impact on Alonso's numbers if he sends some line drives to left field. 

Pittsburgh first baseman Josh Bell has already eclipsed his career high in home runs with 27 and he is six RBIs away from tying his best-ever number in that category. 

Bell is tied for fifth in home runs in MLB and he has the second-most long balls of the participants in the field since Bellinger and Mike Trout are not involved this year. 

Just like Alonso and the other National League hitters, Bell does not have a ton of experience hitting at Progressive Field, but lack of familiarity has not been a huge difference-maker in recent competitions. 

Since 2010, three of the eight Home Run Derby champions have been victorious in ballparks of the other league, with Aaron Judge achieving the feat last in 2017 at Marlins Park. 

Bell enters in some of the best form of the eight participants, as he has five home runs in July, including a three-home run performance July 1 against the Chicago Cubs. 

If he parlays that recent success into the Home Run Derby, Bell could land himself in the final after a potential duel with Alonso in the semifinals. 

Source: Bleacher Report

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