2023 All-Star Home Run Derby odds: Mets' Pete Alonso, Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr. taking heavy action from bettors

It's the slowest sports week of the year with Major League Baseball on its All-Star break, and the only major live sporting event tonight is the annual Home Run Derby, held this year at T-Mobile Park in Seattle. The event has an eight-man, single-elimination bracket format. The two betting favorites at BetMGM are the Mets' Pete Alonso (+300) and Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (+350), and they are taking the heaviest action at the sportsbook.

Neither of those sluggers are the top seed – the White Sox' Luis Robert Jr. (+450) is, but the seeds were set at a July 4 deadline and by many homers the competitors had through play on that date. Robert and Alonso both were tied with 25, but Robert won the tiebreaker so he's the top seed and Alonso the No. 2. Those two and and third-seeded Mookie Betts (+1200) of the Dodgers are now tied for the most homers this season among competitors with 26. The Angels' Shohei Ohtani leads with 31 and the Braves' Matt Olson has 29, but both passed on competing.

Alonso is the only former winner in this year's Derby, taking the competition four years ago in Cleveland and two years ago in Denver. Only Mariners legend Ken Griffey Jr. has won the Derby three times. Alonso has just three homers since returning from a wrist injury on June 18, and is hitting way below .200 in that span. Maybe it won't matter, as the Derby is essentially batting practice. Alonso has hit 174 total home runs in his three Derbies, ranking No. 1 in the history of the contest.

Guerrero Jr. set the all-time single-Derby record with 91 homers in 2019 but lost in the final to Alonso, and hasn't taken part since. Guerrero is looking to join his Hall-of-Fame father Vladimir (2007 with Angels) as Derby winners. Guerrero Jr. only has 13 homers in 2023.

Seattle's Julio Rodriguez (+500) hit 81 total homers last year in the Derby as a rookie, the second most all-time, but came up short in the final against Juan Soto. Rodriguez is looking to become the fourth player to win a Home Run Derby in his home park, last Bryce Harper at Nationals Park in 2019.

At the book, Guerrero is No. 1 in tickets sold at 17.5%, with Alonso second at 15.4% and Rodriguez third at 15.3%. Alonso is first in handle at 21.4%, Rodriguez second at 19.2% and Guerrero third at 17.4%. You can bet on which league the winner comes from at the site, with the AL as the -300 favorite.

The over/under for longest home run is 485.5 feet. The longest this season, 493-foot blast, was hit by Ohtani. The longest by any of this year's competitors was 461-foot shot by Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman (+2000). Rutschman is both a switch-hitter and catcher; no switch-hitter or catcher has ever won the Derby. It's not clear if Rutschman will stick to one side at the plate tonight. Catchers rarely compete in the Derby. The last to do so was Kansas City's Salvador Perez in 2021.

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