On Sunday night at 9 pm ET, Reggaeton legends Luny Tunes and DJ Nelson will face off in a Verzuz battle presented by Corona and T-Mobile at MLB’s All-Star House in the Hollywood Hills. You can watch live on Verzuz’s social platforms and at verzuztv.com.
And then on Monday night, baseball’s biggest sluggers will battle it out at Dodger Stadium in the annual T-Mobile Home Run Derby (8 p.m. ET on ESPN). Here’s a breakdown of the first-round matchup between No. 1 seed Kyle Schwarber and No. 8 seed Albert Pujols. (Seeding is based on 2022 home run totals through July 12.)
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Kyle Schwarber, Phillies Born: March 5, 1993 (Age 29) Birthplace: Middletown, Ohio Drafted: 4th overall, 2014 (Cubs) Debuted: June 16, 2015 (Cubs) Bats: Left Jersey number: 12
Albert Pujols, Cardinals Born: Jan. 16, 1980 (Age 42) Birthplace: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Drafted: 13th round, 1999 (Cardinals) Debuted: April 2, 2001 (Cardinals) Bats: Right Jersey number: 5
Schwarber (28 HRs): In his first season with the Phillies after signing a four-year, $79 million contract as a free agent, he leads the National League in big flies and ranks second in MLB behind only the Yankees’ Aaron Judge.
Pujols (6 HRs): This past offseason, Pujols signed with St. Louis as a free agent -- returning for the first time since 2011, while accepting a part-time role. He has homered twice since July 10, snapping a drought that went back to May 23.
Schwarber (181 HRs): With two more homers, he will reach the 30 mark for the fourth time. In his past 162 games -- from last May 28 through Friday -- Schwarber crushed 52 roundtrippers.
Pujols (685 HRs): He ranks fourth in history, but will need a big second half to track down third-place Alex Rodriguez (696) -- which would put him behind only Barry Bonds (762), Henry Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714).
Schwarber (2nd appearance): He made a serious run at the title in 2018 at Nationals Park, walloping 55 total homers, but he fell to Bryce Harper in the final round.
Pujols (5th appearance): He joins Ken Griffey Jr. (eight), Mark McGwire (seven), Prince Fielder (six), Sammy Sosa (six), Barry Bonds (six) and David Ortiz (five) as the only players to compete in the event this many times. Pujols has never won it, although he finished second to the Angels’ Garret Anderson in Chicago in 2003. He has 71 career Derby homers to his credit.
Schwarber: He has launched 10 career homers of at least 450 feet in game action, with a long of 473 feet (a grand slam at Milwaukee on July 28, 2019).
Pujols: His most prodigious power feats likely came before Statcast arrived in 2015. But even since then, Pujols has cleared the 420-mark in a game 47 times. His long during that span: 459 feet on July 4, 2017, at Minnesota.