Vladimir Guerrero Jr. marked his debut appearance in the Home Run Derby with a historic first-round performance.
In the opening round of this year’s competition, Guerrero was matched up with Matt Chapman of the Oakland A’s. Guerrero more than doubled up Chapman’s total, launching an impressive 29 long balls, which is a new record for the first round.
— #34 (@ftbeard_17) July 9, 2019
People were laughing hysterically as Vlad Jr. was putting holes in the atmosphere breaking the record pic.twitter.com/Lj3987Zfhj
— Barstool Sports (@BarstoolsTweets) July 9, 2019
Included in the record-setting total were a couple of moonshots that traveled 462 and 476 feet.
Vlad Guerrero Jr’s 1st HR was just killed 462 feet and follows it up with a 476 foot shot to left field.
— Chase Williams WPXI (@chasepwilliams) July 9, 2019
The previous Home Run Derby record for most homers in a round was 28 by Josh Hamilton in the most impressive performance ever. Of course, Guerrero’s achievement comes in a different format; he had a timed round, while Hamilton competed under the previous 10 outs format.
Vlad Jr., whose Hall of Fame father won the 2007 Home Run Derby, is a rookie this season for the Toronto Blue Jays and has hit eight home runs in 61 games.
