Baseball Skills Competition: Bryce Harper Eliminated in the First Round

The classic MLB circuit challenge took place tonight. As a reminder, this year they did away with the dial and adopted a format based on the number of swings.

Here's what it looked like:

In the first round, the eight participants took their turns in order. Here's how it went.

First up at the plate was Willson Contreras. And the player who wasn't necessarily considered the heavy favorite ended up putting on quite a show.

He smashed 13 home runs… and some of them were very, very long.

Next up at the plate was Jordan Walker. He started off strong… but you could tell he was tiring a bit as the game went on.

Just like Contreras, though, he was able to hit 13 home runs.

Next up was Jac Caglianone. And despite a strong stretch toward the end of his round, he wasn't able to make up for a slow start.

He was limited to eight home runs, despite a few very long hits.

Munetaka Murakami was next up at bat, and everyone was wondering if the Japanese sensation would be able to make his mark on the contest.

In the end, Murakami was limited to nine home runs.

Ben Rice was the fifth batter, and he became the first player to be officially eliminated: he hit only seven home runs.

At least he had the chance to share that moment with his father, who was his pitcher.

Then, Junior Caminero stepped up to the plate… and he was phenomenal. One of the favorites to win the event, he hit some very, very long home runs.

He hit 12 long balls, eliminating Jac Caglianone in the process.

Finally, we got to see both Phillies hitters take the plate. Kyle Schwarber was the first of the two to bat, and after a rough start, he eventually found his rhythm.

He hit 10 home runs, ending Munetaka Murakami's run. And in the process, he set the bar for the next batter…

And finally, it was Bryce Harper who stepped up to close out the first round. The only one he could knock out of the top four was his teammate Schwarber.

But in the end, Harper wasn't able to do it: he was limited to eight home runs. His run thus came to an end in the first round.

In the end, Willson Contreras, Jordan Walker, Junior Caminero, and Kyle Schwarber will advance to the second round.

Who will win? Stay tuned.

Created by humans, assisted by AI.