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The Home Run Derby took place on Monday with Toronto superstar Vlad Guerrero Jr. taking home the crown. The slugger outmatched Tampa Bay’s Randy Arozarena in the final round to win the event.
But while Guerrero was celebrating an exciting All-Star week victory, there was a scary moment during one of his at-bats. That incident involved a kid attempting to catch a fly ball in the outfield.
Guerrero laced a line drive to left field, leading one young fielder to try and track it down. Misjudging the absolute laser, the child was struck in the head by the ball.
He fell down to the outfield grass in an instant, forcing many on social media to beg the MLB to take kids out of the Home Run Derby event.
it might be time to take the kids out of the outfield pic.twitter.com/QRhXypQTzy
— Gavin McHugh (@gavinmchughh) July 11, 2023
One fan wrote, “A kid took a 115.8-mph liner from Vlad Jr. right off the face.”
Another said, “Uhmmm I think Vlad just took a kid out with a liner to the head?”
Vlad Guerrero Jr.’s HR Derby stats:
26 first round HRs
21 second round HRs
25 final round HRs
1 dead kid
pic.twitter.com/3lirrmZlZt— Korked Bats (@korkedbats) July 11, 2023
“So, nobody’s going to talk about how Vlad just murdered a kid on live television?” this viewer asked.
“Well, kids won’t be in the outfield at the Home Run Derby again. Game is changing. Seriously, I hope the kid is okay. That’s horrifying,” someone else posted.
Those poor kids in the outfield as Vlad hits 110 MPH line drives at their heads #HRDerby pic.twitter.com/fNCknDTGPs
— APOLLO MEDIA (@ApolloHOU) July 11, 2023
It’s definitely a fun idea to have kids being involved in the All-Star festivities, but at some point, safety should become a focus. We probably shouldn’t have 11-year-olds trying to catch 100+ MPH liners off the bats of MLB players.
We’ll see if this is something the league looks at in future HR Derby events.