Bryce Harper has wild idea to improve the Home Run Derby

IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Bryce Harper has wild idea to improve the Home Run Derby

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Grey Papke | Last updated Jul 10, 2026 3:19 PM ET

Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper put forward a bold proposal to make the Home Run Derby more entertaining.

Traditionally, the derby introduces a special baseball for the end of each round that increases the value of any home run hit with it. Harper thinks that along with that, players should be allowed to use aluminum bats when those balls are brought into play.

Bryce Harper has a fun idea for the HR Derby: When the gold balls are brought into play, let the hitters swing aluminum bats.
That would be a show… and you might see balls leave Citizens Bank Park.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 10, 2026

Aluminum bats in a home run derby, even for a limited period of time, would certainly change things. Those bats are lighter and easier to swing than wood bats, and any baseball hit well with one could go 500 feet. Whether that would be entertaining or not is in the eye of the beholder.

There is a general agreement that the derby can drag on a bit. The league is reverting to a previous format for 2026, bringing back a limit on number of swings instead of a time limit, despite the fact that the clock had been a somewhat popular addition.

Harper will not be able to use an aluminum bat this year, but he will be there, he announced this week. The fact that the All-Star festivities are in Philadelphia essentially clinched it for him.

More must-reads: