One of the best power hitters in the world, Shohei Ohtani, will not participate in the Home Run Derby. As disappointing as it is to see MLB's most marketable player pass on participating in this All-Star event, it's hard to blame him after listening to his reasoning. The Los Angeles Dodgers' star cited Rob Manfred's new Home Run Derby rules as the reason why he's turning down the invite.
Shohei Ohtani said he probably won't participate in this year's Home Run Derby
— Jack Harris (@ByJackHarris) June 28, 2025
He noted that the current rules are "pretty difficult," presumably because of the amount of swings the event requires. Would be a lot while he also continues to build up as a pitcher
He's spot on, here. The current rules for the derby require a ton of swings in a minimal amount of time. Ohtani doing this, especially while he's trying to get fully built up as a pitcher, just doesn't make sense.
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Shohei Ohtani rejection makes fatal flaw of Home Run Derby format clear
The new Home Run Derby format incentivizes players to swing at every pitch they see in a short period. While that's fun for fans to watch, it's undoubtedly exhausting for players, especially those who advance past the first round.
In the past, the Home Run Derby was untimed. Participants would receive 10 "outs," which were essentially swings that did not result in home runs, before their turn would come to an end. Manfred felt as if a time factor had to be added for fan interest to remain, so the rules were changed. We can argue which format is better for fans, but if the new format is going to disincentivize players from participating, something is wrong with it.
Ohtani might be a unique case as a two-way player, but he's far from the only superstar to turn down an invite. While we don't know the reason for every player to turn down an invitation, there's reason to believe fear of injury is one of them.
Rob Manfred must fix Home Run Derby before it's too late
I'd be lying if I said I had the perfect idea of a new format that will be entertaining for fans and good enough for superstars to participate, but I'm not the commissioner. Manfred is, and it's on him to come up with something, because this isn't working.
Arguably the two most popular players right now, Ohtani and Aaron Judge, are not participating. Judge says he won't participate until the event takes place at Yankee Stadium, but Ohtani refusing to participate out of fear of injury coming from the format should be enough to change how this event is run.
We've seen how the NBA Dunk Contest has decreased in popularity as stars have turned down invitations. MLB risks falling down the NBA's path if it does not make changes quickly.