The 2021 MLB Home Run Derby will feature eight of Major League Baseball's most powerful hitters, including Los Angeles Angels sensation Shohei Ohtani, who has made the All-Star Game as both a pitcher and designated hitter, a first for the Midsummer Classic. Ohtani enters the 2021 Home Run Derby as the No. 1 seed. He has been destroying baseballs all year and enters the MLB All-Star break with a league-high 33 home runs.
The 2021 Home Run Derby from Coors Field in Denver will begin at 8 p.m. ET on Monday. Ohtani has the distinction of hitting one of baseball's hardest home runs, reaching a velocity of 117.2 mph on a long ball at Yankee Stadium on June 28. As far as distance goes, Ohtani's resume features a 470-foot bomb he hit on June 8 vs. Kansas City. Ohtani is a +300 favorite (risk $100 to win $300) on the money line in the latest 2021 Home Run Derby odds from William Hill Sportsbook. Before making any 2021 Home Run Derby picks, be sure to see the predictions from SportsLine's Matt Severance.
Severance is a well-connected writer and handicapper who has worked in the industry since 2005. He is SportsLine's top MLB expert and is a whopping 92-43 in his last 139 MLB picks, returning over $3,900 for the $100 bettor. Anybody following him has seen some huge returns.
Now he has studied the latest 2021 Home Run Derby odds and locked in his picks. Head to SportsLine now to see them.
2021 Home Run Derby expert preview
Severance has been impressed with everything Ohtani has been able to accomplish this season. As a pitcher, Ohtani has appeared in 13 games, all starts, with a 4-1 record and 3.49 ERA. He is among the Angels' top arms, allowing 46 hits, 28 runs with six homers in 67 innings. He has a better than 2-to-1 ratio of strikeouts to walks with 87 strikeouts against 35 walks for a 1.21 WHIP.
For as good of a pitcher he has been, he has been even better at the plate. Since joining Los Angeles in 2018, Ohtani has 80 homers, 217 RBIs and 41 stolen bases. Entering play on Saturday, he was hitting .279 with 18 doubles, four triples and 33 homers with 70 RBIs. He will be making just his third appearance at Coors Field.
Ohtani isn't the only Home Run Derby favorite. Joey Gallo of the Texas Rangers is at +450, Pete Alonso of the New York Mets is at +500, Matt Olson of the Oakland Athletics is at +600, and Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals and Juan Soto of the Washington Nationals are both at +800. Gallo has been slugging this season, and leads the Rangers with 24 homers and 52 RBIs entering the All-Star break.
Olson has helped Oakland keep the heat on the Houston Astros in the American League West. He leads the Athletics with 23 homers, 59 RBIs and a .282 batting average. He has a .556 slugging percentage with a .928 OPS. Since 2016, Olson has 126 home runs. He has homered once and driven in three runs in eight career games in Denver.
How to make 2021 Home Run Derby picks
In a surprise, Severance isn't backing Ohtani. He notes that the top seed hasn't even advanced to the finals since 2015. Instead, his top pick is a player who is "built for this event." You can only get that selection at SportsLine.
So who wins the MLB Home Run Derby 2021? Visit SportsLine to see Matt Severance's top 2021 Home Run Derby picks, all from the expert who has crushed his MLB picks and is up over $3,900 for the $100 bettor, and find out.
2021 MLB Home Run Derby odds to win
Shohei Ohtani +300
Joey Gallo +450
Pete Alonso +500
Matt Olson +600
Salvador Perez +800
Juan Soto +800
Trevor Story +900
Trey Mancini +1200
