Jordan Walker Wins the Circuit Competition

After the first round of the circuit tournament (as summarized here by my colleague Félix Forget), four players were still in the running.

So there were two matchups to watch.

• Junior Caminero vs. Jordan Walker
• Kyle Schwarber vs. Willson Contreras

It started with Caminero. Out of his 15 swings (starting in the second round, it was no longer 20 swings), he managed to hit only five home runs.

Walker, therefore, only needed to hit six home runs to beat Caminero and advance to the final. And in just eight swings, he managed to hit enough home runs to make it to the final.

The next matchup got off to a slow start with Schwarber, who eventually found his rhythm. He finished with no fewer than nine home runs.

That put pressure on his opponent.

Speaking of his opponent, Contreras (who had impressed in the first round and was battling the crowd) was excellent. He had eight home runs after 14 swings.

However, he swung at a bad pitch at the end, and that sent the Phillies player to the final, in front of his home crowd.

The Phillies player's goal was to join Bryce Harper (2018), Todd Frazier (2015), and Ryne Sandberg (1990) on the list of home winners.

And clearly, the crowd was ready to cheer on the local favorite. Schwarber started strong and set the bar high for young Walker.

11 home runs for the Phillies' DH? Nothing less.

Walker, who was booed loudly by the crowd, put the pressure on his opponent. He eventually tied the Phillies hitter (11) thanks to extra swings.

And on his final swing, he managed to avoid extra innings by hitting his 12th home run of the round to end the contest.

Six home runs on his last six swings? Wow!

Created by humans, assisted by AI.