Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
Jul 13, 2026; Philadelphia, PA, USA; St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Jordan Walker (18) reacts after winning the All Star-Home Run Derby at Citizens Bank Park.
Budding St. Louis Cardinals superstar Jordan Walker announced himself to the world in a major way on Monday night when he won the 2026 MLB Home Run Derby in dramatic fashion.
Walker squared off with hometown hero Kyle Schwarber in the finals at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia and hit six consecutive homers on his final out of the contest to win one of the most exciting derbies in recent memory.
However, Walker may well have broken the rules of the competition in order to do so, and now some fans are asking for a review.
JORDAN WALKER NEVER GAVE UP AT THE HR DERBY 🔥
Walker hit SIX home runs in a row to take the title 👏 pic.twitter.com/jKQk4ymdzt
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 14, 2026
Jordan Walker Didn’t Use Magenta Ball To Win MLB Home Run Derby
In each round of the competition, the final swing of the round used a “magenta ball” sponsored by T-Mobile. If players homered with the magenta ball, they got to continue swinging until they made an out, regardless of how many swings it took.
This was huge for Walker, because he used the extra outs in order to topple Schwarber.
However, the magenta ball caused trouble all night because players reportedly struggled to see the ball coming into home plate, making it harder to hit out of the park.
Why is this notable?
Because a number of eagle-eyed baseball fans pointed out that Walker did not use the magenta ball on his final home run of the night, which lifted him to a victory over Schwarber.
Am I tripping? The last ball Jordan Walker hit out was all white, not a Megenta Ball. Hitters had problems all night squaring up the magenta ball due to the colors. Still a fantastic performance but how was this not checked?#HomeRunDerby #MagentaGate pic.twitter.com/tl8ymcXn7z
— Mike The Baseball Guy (@BaseballGuyMike) July 14, 2026
Walker did use the magenta ball on all of his final swings up until that point. However, the last and decisive home run used a classic white ball.
Listen, we’re not saying that Schwarber and Walker need to run it back in a swing-off before the All-Star Game on Tuesday night … but we wouldn’t mind seeing it.