2024 MLB Home Run Derby Betting Odds and Props

2024 MLB Home Run Derby odds and prop betting advice

This week is the one week where bookmakers that service U.S. customers can take a breath and relax for a couple of days. It's because the MLB season has paused for the All-Star break. Both sportsbooks and players find themselves spending time getting ready for the upcoming football season, which at this point is only weeks away. 

But first you have an opportunity to score a few bucks on a more exciting and potentially better pay-off event than the All-Star game itself. I't's the Home Run Derby! Thee HR Darby has evolved into a betting event that was re-vamped into a bracket event in 2015 featuring eight baseball sluggers. There are a ton or Home Run Derby Props available at all reputable online sportsbooks.

Here are the current Home Run Derby entrants and wagering odds courtesy of Jazz Sports:

The Home Run Derby format has changed again
In 2015 the Home Run Derby forever changed when MLB patterned the contest after the enormously popular NCAA Basketball Tournament. they figured a bracket format would create interest and wagering opportunities. There will be four "two-man" brackets facing off in an elimination event.

But even that has changed and now all 8 batters will get to launch homers in the first round. The top four home run hitters will advance past the first round and form a 'bracket' to become the HR Derby champion. The No. 1 and No. 4 home run hitters will face off in the semifinals, while the No. 2 and No. 3 home run hitters in the first round will also square-off. Finally, each winner will head to the finals.

New Home Run Derby Rules

The first two rounds will still be three minutes, and the final round will still be two minutes, changing nothing but a pitch count - the maximum number of pitches each hitter can see in each round! The initial round and semifinals will conclude whenever three minutes expires or 40 pitches are thrown, whichever comes first. Then in the Finals,batters only get 27 pitches or 2 minutes to smash as many dingers as possible.

But there's more changes! 

In previous years, batters were given an extra 30 seconds of time after the end of each regular period. Moreover, they could also receive a bonus of 30 seconds, resulting in a total of 60 bonus seconds, if they successfully hit two home runs with a minimum distance of 440 feet within the regular period. 

This year, the method of obtaining bonus pitches and the duration of the bonus period have changed. Instead of receiving a standard 30 seconds of extra time, players are now granted bonus pitches until they achieve three outs within the bonus period. In addition, if a player hits a home run of 425 feet or more during the bonus period, the bonus period will be extended until the player records their fourth out. It is no longer true that hitting particularly long home runs during the regular period results in additional bonus time.

Home Run Derby Props

The Home Run Derby has certainly evolved since its inception in 1985 and has gained huge popularity since ESPN started broadcasting the event in 1994. Betting on the HR Derby has too. Where once the only wager possible was a "Pick the Home Run Derby Champion" the new era of player prop betting has spawned a wide array of props on pretty much every aspect of the Home Run Derby.

Of course you can bet who will win the 2024 MLB Home Run Derby, but at the top online sportsbooks, you can also wager on who will advance to the semifinals, who will hit the most home runs and even the finals matchup. Industry giant BetOnline has an amazing 51 different wagers available for the HR Derby, including a dizzying array of head-to-head matchups for the first round and every permutation available for the exact outcome! 

Frankly, betting on the props for the Home Run Derby provide better value than the All-Star game ever will. Plus, it's over before midnight!