On the strength of his MLB third-best 26 home runs, our Luis Robert Jr. enters tonight’s Home Run Derby as a No. 1 seed. And based on the makeup of the grid, he caught a huge break by avoiding three of the most prodigious challengers — Pete Alonso, Julio Rodríguez and Mookie Betts — until a potential final round.
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Seattle’s Rodríguez will have all the hometown hype and devil-may-care flair behind him, while Alonso is a past champion and Betts is both dynamic and tied with Robert with 26 homers this season.