Full History of Every Yankee to Participate in the Home Run Derby

The first half of the 2026 baseball season is officially over, meaning it's officially time for this year's MLB All-Star Game. Before the best in the American League and National League go head-to-head on Tuesday, Citizens Bank Park will host another iconic event on Monday night that Yankees fans will be paying close attention to: the annual Home Run Derby.

Seven of the majors' top sluggers will beat the leather off of baseball after baseball, with the Yankees being represented by Ben Rice. The first-time All-Star cemented himself as one of New York's best players in the first half of the season, crushing 29 home runs with a .279 batting average and 7.4% HR rate in his first 91 games, which is a massive improvement from the 26 HRs, .255 BA, and 4.9% homer rate he tallied in 138 games last season.

Ben Rice keeps mashing home runs 😮

He has 7 homers in his last 10 games! pic.twitter.com/vGSj5jqx35
— MLB (@MLB) July 11, 2026

A Yankee hasn't won the HR Derby since Aaron Judge took home the crown in 2017, putting a lot of pressure on Rice to get the job done. In the meantime, here's a look at every Yankees player who's participated in the annual event, starting with the organization's first participant nearly 30 years ago.

1997: Tino Martinez

The 1997 campaign was a great year for former Yankees first baseman Tino Martinez, who crushed a career-high 44 home runs. The four-time World Series Champion was part of the AL's HR Derby team that year and didn't disappoint, leading his side to a 32-29 victory over the NL, including Martinez outslugging Larry Walker 3-1 in the finals. He finished the event with a team-high 16 total HRs.

Result: winner

2002: Jason Giambi

After seven seasons in Oakland, Jason Giambi made his way to New York ahead of the 2002 season, signing a seven-year, $120 million contract. That was a lot of money at the time, sure, but well worth it for a player who averaged 35 HRs in his four previous seasons.

Jason Giambi swings. — It didn't take Jason Giambi long to live up to his contract with the Yankees. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Giambi began the 2002 Home Run Derby, outscored 12-11 by Sammy Sosa in the first round; however, he didn't look back after that. He mashed six and seven HRs in the semifinals and finals, respectively, winning the event with a total of 24 round-trippers. Sosa finished with 18 while Paul Konerko rounded out the top three with a dozen.

Result: winner

2003: Jason Giambi

One year later, Giambi returned to defend his crown at the 2003 derby, looking to become the first back-to-back winner since Ken Griffey Jr. (1998-99). It certainly looked like "Giambino" was on his way to achieving that goal, leading the opening round with 12 HRs, while the next-closest player (Garret Anderson) had seven.

Giambi advanced to the semis, but that's where his bid ended. He ran into an Albert Pujols-shaped brick wall, as the latter outscored him 14-11 in an electric head-to-head matchup. Impressively, Giambi had more home runs in that round than Anderson and Jim Edmonds combined for in the other matchup (10).

Result: eliminated in semifinals

2010: Nick Swisher

Nick Swisher played with five teams throughout his 12-year career, but his best performance came with the Yankees. Specifically, he earned his lone All-Star Game appearance in 2010, which also included him participating in the annual Home Run Derby.

Much to everyone's dismay, Swisher's entry was forgettable. The former first-round pick was eliminated after tallying just four HRs in the opening frame, which was only better than Vernon Wells (two) and Chris Young (one).

Result: eliminated in first round

2011: Robinson Canó

It's hard to remember those mid-2000s/early-2010s Yankees teams without immediately thinking about Robinson Canó. The former AL MVP finalist slashed .309/.355/.504 with 204 HRs for New York from 2005 to 2013, making his second of five All-Star appearances during that stretch in 2011.

Canó's participation in the 2011 HR Derby was iconic, to say the least. He went back and forth with the Red Sox's Adrián González in the first two rounds, finishing with 20 home runs apiece. The duo then went head-to-head in the finals, with Canó emerging victorious by a score of 12-11.

The victory kickstarted a three-year run for Canó at the Home Run Derby. Unfortunately, what happened next didn't come close to his debut.

Result: winner

2012 and 2013: Robinson Canó

Canó's appearances in 2012 and 2013 go hand in hand just because of how disappointing they were. Yankees fans were crushed when the five-time Silver Slugger finished 2012 in last place with zero home runs. Although 2013 wasn't as bad, it still wasn't good, either. Canó's four home runs were—once again—the fewest at the event, solidifying that his prime was entering its final stages.

Result: back-to-back first-round eliminations

2017: Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez

Four years after Canó's abysmal performance, the Yankees returned to the HR Derby in 2017, represented by Aaron Judge and Gary Sánchez.

The slugging duo didn't disappoint in Round 1, with Sánchez edging out future Yankee Giancarlo Stanton (17-16), while Judge made it past Justin Bour (23-22). Although Sánchez fell 11-10 to Miguel Sanó in the semifinals, Judge—who was a rookie—kept chugging along, beating future teammate Cody Bellinger (13-12) before taking down Sanó by one run in the finals (11-10).

Result: Judge winner, Sanchez eliminated in semifinals

2025: Jazz Chisholm Jr.

The 2025 season saw Jazz Chisholm Jr. become an MLB All-Star again for the first time since 2022. The Yankees' second baseman was in the middle of a career-best 31-HR campaign, giving every reason to believe he could hang with baseball's top sluggers like Cal Raleigh and Junior Caminero in Atlanta last summer.

Giving shades of Canó's HR Derby letdowns, Chisholm was eliminated from last year's event after finishing the first round with only three home runs. That performance is bad in a vacuum; however, it's worse with the context that each of the other seven participants had at least 15 HRs.

No matter how you slice it, it was among the most disappointing Home Run Derby appearances in Yankees history.

Result: eliminated in first round

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