The first time Dino Ebel ever saw Bryce Harper, the latter was a teenage prodigy with a ridiculously powerful swing that would soon land him on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
"You could see he was special," said Ebel, now the third base coach for the Dodgers. "There was big hype around him."
With all of the attention focused on Harper, Ebel gave him plenty of space that day and didn't introduce himself. But now they have competed against each other for years in the big leagues and, this spring, shared the same clubhouse as part of Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, with Ebel throwing to Harper regularly. Late last week, Harper texted Ebel and asked him to throw to him in the Home Run Derby.
It's an honor often pivotal to the outcome of the event, with the execution of the pitcher almost as important as the work of the slugger. Last year, Cal Raleigh and his father, Todd, won the event together, but sometimes fathers or friends can be overwhelmed by the din of the crowd, the extra layers of stands in the major league parks. Sometimes the major league coaches struggle to throw strikes because they're unaccustomed to not having a batting cage on the field.
Harper will soon club his 400th career homer, is on a Hall of Fame trajectory and won the Derby back in 2018 with the Nationals. But within the Derby context, Ebel is at least as accomplished as Harper: He pitched to Vladimir Guerrero Sr. when he won the event in 2007; Ebel was behind the L Screen when Albert Pujols won in 2015, and again when Teoscar Hernandez prevailed a couple of years ago. And Ebel was the guy lobbing perfect strikes when Kyle Schwarber won the swing-off to conclude last year's Derby.
Last week, Harper mentioned wistfully that he would not be able to work with his father, Ron, who threw to him in the 2018 Derby. "He hasn't been throwing," Harper said.
But in Ebel, he's getting a batting practice pitcher who is also an accomplished baseball dad. When Ebel worked the Derby with Pujols in 2015, Ebel asked Harper -- then in his fourth year in the big leagues with the Nationals -- to pose for a picture with his two young sons, Brady and Trey. Last year, Brady was picked in the first round by the Milwaukee Brewers, at No. 32 overall, and Trey went No. 25 to the Brewers this past weekend.
Here's a rundown of the other contestants and their pitchers ahead of Monday night's Home Run Derby:
Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia Phillies
2026 Home Runs: 32
Like many of his peers, Kyle Schwarber doesn't take a lot of batting practice on the field anymore, preferring to do his work in the cage. And when he does, Rafael Pena, the Phillies' assistant hitting coach, is the guy who throws to him most often -- and he'll throw to him in the Derby.
"I love hitting off him," Schwarber said. "You know, we do a lot of challenges in the cage work -- stuff where I'm working on hard stuff, sliders, changeups. But we also do regular batting practice, and I've always kind of found that he and I match up well together."
Schwarber might draw on the crowd to pull him along, as Phillies fans have always done for him.
"Especially when I first signed there, I wasn't the perfect player out in the field," Schwarber said last week. "I wasn't the guy who's going to go make every catch, diving play, whatever it is. But I think they know that there's a lot of effort, they know how I prepare and how I want to play the game."
Ben Rice, New York Yankees
2026 Home Runs: 29
Two Bens inspired the selection for Ben Rice's first name, his father Dan recalled over the phone the other day. One of them was Benjamin Franklin, and so it seems fitting to Dan that his son will participate in the Derby in Philadelphia.
Rice hits left-handed and will have the benefit of taking aim at the inviting right-field porch in Citizens Bank Park. Ben and his father practiced over the weekend when the Yankees were in Washington, D.C.
"I feel pretty good," Dan said the day after one of the sessions. Dan pitched in college at Brown and subsequently suffered a rotator cuff injury that has never been fixed. But he has made it work, throwing to Ben throughout his life, including at a place in Cohasset, Massachusetts, called Freedom Field. Ben might not be home as much these days, but his dad still throws to him when he is. Dan is not worried about the crowd, believing he'll be able to focus on the catcher's glove. And he'll work middle in, thigh high.
Junior Caminero, Tampa Bay Rays
2026 Home Runs: 28
Last year, at 22, Junior Caminero reached the Derby finals, stunning the crowd in Atlanta's Truist Park with his power. The American League MVP candidate is returning to the event and will work with the same batting practice pitcher -- Tomas Francisco, the Rays' major league coordinator.
"We practiced a little more this year," Francisco said via text Sunday evening. "Three times. The first time we practiced, we did 20 swings. The second time, we did 20 and 15 swings -- two rounds -- and the third time we practiced, we did 20-15-15." Francisco, throwing in the Derby for the third time, noted the change in format and how Caminero will adjust.
"Everything was so quick with the time clock last year," he texted. "This year, he can take some time in between swings. And he's a little more experienced... He's a little more mature, with his Derby experiences, and what he's done as a player."
Jordan Walker, St. Louis Cardinals
2026 home runs: 22
Kleininger Teran, the bullpen coach for the Cardinals, expected to have a quiet All-Star break, a few days off from the relentless season. But early last week, Walker was formally invited to the Derby, and the St. Louis outfielder immediately asked Teran -- known as KT to friends, family and members of the Cardinals' traveling party -- to throw to him.
In 2022, when Albert Pujols participated in the Derby at Dodger Stadium, Teran served as his pitcher. This is just part of Teran's résumé: He mentioned in a phone interview with ESPN on Saturday that in the past, he has thrown to Willson Contreras and Juan Yepez in a home run competition in Venezuela. "I'm excited for my son to be able to see this," Teran added.
Walker and Teran have talked about strategy, without much in the way of formal practice, Teran said. "But we know what to do," he said. "I know where to put the ball -- middle in."
Willson Contreras, Boston Red Sox
2026 Home Runs: 20
Jose Flores and Contreras go all the way back to 2012 when Flores was part of the Cubs' farm system and Contreras was a 20-year-old working in the team's instructional league. Now they are with the Red Sox together, with Contreras in the midst of one of the best seasons of his career and Flores in his first months as Boston's bench coach. Flores was one of a handful of staffers retained when Alex Cora was fired as manager a month into the season, and he was promoted from first base coach.
Flores had been set to fly to Puerto Rico for the All-Star break, but Contreras mentioned early last week that he might get a chance to be in the Home Run Derby -- and he wanted Flores as his pitcher given that he's the guy who often throws batting practice to him.
"Pretty much every time he takes BP on the field," Flores said.
Once Contreras was added to the All-Star team last week, he agreed to do the Derby. "He has so much raw power. He's so strong," Flores said.
Munetaka Murakami, Chicago White Sox
2026 home runs: 20
Luis Sierra, the team's longtime bullpen catcher, will throw to the left-handed-hitting Murakami, as he does in batting practice. Murakami's typical batting practice tends to include a lot of opposite-field home runs, but he will have to decide whether to stay with that strategy or aim for the inviting right-field porch in Philadelphia.
Earlier this year, White Sox general manager Chris Getz mentioned how purposeful Murakami seems to be in everything he does. The media expectation over the winter was that Murakami would be one of the most coveted players in the free agent market, but because of industry concerns over whether he could hit high velocity, he landed with the White Sox on a two-year deal.
"It looks like he's trying to prove something to somebody," Getz said at the time. At the Derby, Murakami will get that chance.
Jac Caglianone, Kansas City Royals
2026 home runs: 15
Caglianone grew up in Tampa and attended the University of Florida, roots identical to those of Pete Alonso. Caglianone, naturally, has leaned on Alonso, a Derby legend, in his preparation for the event, asking him what to expect. The Royals played in Baltimore over the weekend, giving the sluggers ample opportunities to chat as Caglianone prepared for the Derby.
Alonso emphasized to Caglianone that with no clock dictating this year's event, Caglianone can set his own pace and not stress. "And he said that I need to reset my swing, I can poke one out to left field," Caglianone said over the phone Sunday morning. "Between rounds, he said I can go and find a quiet place where me and my dad can relax, reset."
When Caglianone got a text confirming that he would be part of the Derby, he walked outside of the Royals clubhouse to call his father, Jeff. They have watched the Derby together for many years, and when Jac told Jeff they'd be doing the event together, he said his father "was fired up, ready to roll," adding that "it was a full circle moment ... something you dream about."
Jac is confident his father will be "calm and cool and collected. I'll make sure he doesn't get sped up. ... I think it'll be a lot of fun. There will be a catcher, and he'll just focus on the glove, and that'll take the crowd out of it for him."
Caglianone mentioned to Alonso about going for distance with his homers. "Don't worry about the farthest home run," Alonso told Caglianone. "Just go for quantity."