Home Run Derby 2019 Start Time: TV Schedule, Bracket and More

The 35th annual Home Run Derby will take place on Monday, July 8 at 8 p.m. ET at Progressive Field in Cleveland. You can watch all the action on ESPN, or live-stream it with WatchESPN.

Participants will battle it out in an eight-man bracket format, which has been in effect since 2015. Players have four minutes to hit in each round, with the opportunity for extra time by hammering a ball 440 feet or more.

Through the first two rounds, players have one 45-second timeout, while the two contestants in the championship round will have an additional 30-second timeout. 

The seeding was determined by the number of home runs hit on the season, while tiebreakers were decided by the number of homers since June 15.

Here's what the bracket looks like:

The single-elimination bracket has proved to be more exciting and a better way to watch the Home Run Derby, as the 10-out format made the event too long for some spectators. Since baseball is not a timed sport, the 4-minute rounds give the event an excitement that ordinary games don't have.

While this year's Derby boasts only one returning player in Alex Bregman and none of the past Home Run Derby winners—including defending champion Bryce Harper—it's still sure to be a showdown between some of the most powerful hitters in the Major League.

Of the eight contestants, the Senior Circuit boasts five players while the American League has three, which is an improvement from last year's one.

Bregman is the fourth seed for the second straight year, and he will take on Joc Pederson in the first round.

The two are quite evenly matched, with Bregman knocking 23 homers compared to Pederson's 20. The two's slugging percentages are also off by just .001, with Bregman leading with a .535. 

Another matchup to look out for in the first round is three-seeded Josh Bell and six-seeded Ronal Acuna Jr. Bell is the favorite to win the Derby with +350 odds (bet $100, win $350), followed by top-seeded Christian Yelich. He has 26 deep balls, a slugging percentage of .662 and holds the longest homer of the group at 474 feet. 

Despite being the favorite to win while Acuna sits at +1000 odds, you can expect Acuna to not go down without a fight against Bell. The young Brave has taken the baseball world by storm, becoming a household name with his exciting and dynamic play.

He is the youngest to make the field at 21 years old, and has crushed 12 of his 20 long balls to center field or the opposite field.

It goes without saying, but one-seeded Yelich is a player to keep an eye on throughout the Derby. He has blasted 31 balls on the season and is on track to end with a whopping 50-plus homers. He's also the NL's first player with 30 before the All-Star break since Albert Pujols in 2009.

Yelich's potential matchup with Pete Alonso in the championship round, if they win their first two rounds, would be an exciting battle between two power hitters. Alonso leads the MLB with 20 homers of 400-plus feet, including six that would get him additional time in the Home Run Derby.

Despite a batting average of just .281, the rookie hits the ball hard when he makes contact, which will prove to be an advantage in this event. 

However, the prediction here is Bell beats out Alonso in the second round to take on Yelich for the championship. Bell has shown that he can also hit deep homers, hitting five that were over 450 feet. He leads the Majors in doubles (30) and RBIs (84), holding a slash line of .308/.380/.662 compared to Alonso's .281/.373/.634.

As a rookie, Alonso may feel the pressure of the event, while Bell is able to knock more 440-plus feet homers, giving him the extra time needed to surpass Alonso and move onto the championship round.

Yelich and Bell would surely be a great show, as it will be a battle between two young, up-and-coming stars. 

If Bell wins, he will be the first Pirate to win the Home Run Derby. If Yelich wins, he would be just the second Brewers player to win the Derby and have the potential to follow in Pujols' footsteps to be the Senior Circuit's first back-to-back MVP since Pujols in 2008 and 2009.

As I believe Yelich has the easier road to the championship round, facing Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the first round and either Bregman or Pederson in the second, he's my bet to win the Derby at +400 odds. He should have more strength left, whereas his opponent in the final round will have gone through either Alonso or Bell and may be more tired.

All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference.