‘It’s been a journey’: The Brown twins’ long road toward NFL dreams
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois running back Chase Brown and safety Sydney Brown began their lives two minutes apart, identical twins born at 5:33 and 5:35 a.m., respectively, on March 21, 2000.
“Everything they’ve done,” said their mother, Raechel, “they’ve done together, at the same time.”
This past season, they helped revive the Illinois football program, which posted its highest wins total (8) since 2007. This week, they will become the first twins to play in the Senior Bowl. This spring, the Browns are expected to become just the sixth set of twins taken in the same draft over the past 40 years.
They’ve done it despite an unsettled home situation that made it difficult to keep up in school while growing up in London, Ontario. The Brown twins moved to an estimated 20 homes and shelters with their mom and younger sister, Mya, before they were 16. Chase and Sydney became football stars, but in Ontario, where hockey is king, that didn’t mean much.
They didn’t come from a family of college graduates, and without a platform to maximize their athletic ability, they couldn’t conceive of a path to a university degree.
They needed help.
“Our goals were to play college football, but we didn’t know how we were going to get there,” Chase said.
They didn’t know much about college football, either.
“If I’m being honest, I thought South Dakota and f—ing Alabama are on the same level,” Sydney said.
Six years later, Chase finished the 2022 season as the nation’s No. 2 rusher (1,643 yards), and a Doak Walker Award finalist with 10 games of 100 yards or more. He was a second-team All-Big Ten selection. On Dec. 14, he won the Jon Cornish Trophy, given to the best Canadian player in college football.
Sydney earned first-team All-Big Ten honors, leading an Illinois defense ranked No. 1 nationally for much of the season. He tied for the national lead with six interceptions and added 59 tackles. He had two defensive touchdowns in the regular-season finale at Northwestern.
They are believed to be one of the first set of twins to earn All-Big Ten recognition in the same season.
Their football journey has already taken them across a border and several state lines, and required sacrifice, resilience and the maturity to assess their lives and make difficult choices.
The toughest of which came at age 16.
RAECHEL BROWN WAS just 18 when she had Chase and Sydney, a single mom juggling work and immense responsibility. She lived at times with her father and brother, but both eventually died. She leaned on her mom, Nancy, the boys’ beloved Nan, and her stepfather, Alan McQuillan, but life wasn’t easy.
Raechel estimates that she moved more than 20 times, including to shelters. She also became very ill after having Mya, which limited her ability to work.
“It’s been a journey,” Raechel said. “A lot of great and a lot of not-so great all mixed together.”
Chase and Sydney didn’t live with their father, Darren Isaac, who played briefly in the Canadian Football League, and weren’t close with him when they were young. But Isaac and others on his side of the family played football, which “drew our interest into the sport,” Sydney said.
They started in flag football at 7 and coaches soon told Raechel that her boys had high-level potential. Even though she worried about injuries, she moved them up, and they began traveling around Ontario for games. When the boys were 15, coaches from other teams told Rachel that she had to get them to the United States.
Although some FBS programs recruit players directly from Canadian high school programs, Chase and Sydney weren’t going to have the academics to take that route. They were doing the “bare minimum,” Raechel said, to stay on the field.
“I had people tell me straight up it’s not possible, they’re never going to be able to go to college,” Raechel said. “Public schools like to put kids in a little box here. They weren’t being forced to do anything that was going to get them to where they wanted to be.”
As high school freshmen, the Browns applied to Mercyhurst Prep in Pennsylvania, but were denied. They reached a critical point during the summer between their sophomore and junior years. After being evicted because of a lack of finances, Raechel and Mya were living in a shelter, and Chase and Sydney alternated between that shelter and their Nan’s home.
They had connected with Justin Dillon, a recruiting consultant in Canada. Dillon had mentioned the twins to Josh Clark, who helped launch the IMG Madden Football Academy in Bradenton, Florida, and had placed players at IMG and other area schools. Clark thought Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School in Bradenton would be a good fit for the Browns.
“It was getting to be late summer,” Clark said. “Saint Stephens had the setup and was looking to succeed in football, and [the Browns] needed a home. There wasn’t a lot of time. It was helping two kids out with the private school that had the resources and provided them with a good life.”
Things moved quickly. After the twins were admitted, Raechel began speaking with Saint Stephens coach Tod Creneti and others. The boys couldn’t live with a coach or a faculty member, so a host family was found. Phil and Karen Yates were empty nesters whose kids had gone to Saint Stephens.
“Phil called me and we had the most emotional conversation I’ve ever had in my life with a complete stranger,” Raechel said. “I remember crying. He asked if I thought the boys were going to be OK without me. I said, ‘I depend more on them than they depend on me.’ That was the reason why it was so important for them to go and focus on themselves.”
The next day, Raechel and the twins began the 20-hour drive to Florida, along with McQuillan, her stepfather. They met the Yateses for dinner. By the end of the week, Chase and Sydney were moved in and attending classes.
Raechel cried for hours on the drive back home — “the world’s worst passenger” for McQuillan. But she knew this was the right decision.
“We just took a leap of faith,” Sydney said. “Within a week of applying to the school, we were fully engulfed with everything.”
THE MOVE WAS seismic for Chase and Sydney, and came with several aftershocks.
They went from living in subsidized housing and shelters in a Canadian city to a gated community on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Chase and Sydney were behind academically when they arrived, but math was an especially urgent need.
They were high school juniors taking basic algebra, taught only at the middle school at Saint Stephens.
“Honestly, that humbled us,” Sydney said. “You have these twins who come down from Canada to Florida, and all our buddies [in Canada] thought it was sick. But we get down there and it’s like, ‘Hey, you’ve got to dial in.’ Walking to the middle school every day …
“It was the walk of shame,” Chase said.
Phil Yates had tutored kids in math over the years, so every night for several months, he and Karen worked with the twins to catch up in school.
The twins had some initial homesickness, especially Sydney, but they FaceTimed with Raechel, and she made several visits. They settled into life in Florida.
Creneti initially told the Yateses that they would need to host the Browns for only two weeks. Phil soon replied that Chase and Sydney weren’t going anywhere.
“It felt very natural,” Karen Yates said.
The Browns stayed with the Yates family until their final semester, when the Yateses moved to Texas and Chase and Sydney stayed with their neighbors, Tom and Michelle Cross. By then, the time with Phil and Karen had already made an impression.
“What we thought success was completely changed when we moved in with them,” Sydney said. “We were never exposed to that side of society, and really understood the potential that life can bring, if you go to school, if you get your s— done, if you develop a proper work ethic, if you’re an efficient person in society.
“It was such a big flip. We learned so much about how we don’t want to go back.”
Football was the easy part. The Browns had to sit out Saint Stephens’ first two games in an acclimation period, and those two games would be the team’s only losses during the two seasons Chase and Sydney played.
After the 2016 season, Chase got his first scholarship offer from Syracuse, rich in running back tradition. But he waited for other offers to come, including Western Michigan, which had a top aviation school. After living with Phil Yates — a test pilot after 25 years in the Navy, where he flew F-14s and F-18s — Chase was all-in on becoming a pilot. Even as other offers came in, Chase was set on WMU, taking no other official visits.
“I would have hung up the cleats, put the helmet away, put the pads away, just to go be a pilot,” Chase said. “I thought Phil was a rock star.”
Sydney’s recruiting went slower. His height was a concern for some schools, even those who wanted Chase. When offers finally arrived, they came mainly from smaller programs like South Dakota.
“Bama’s next,” he joked to himself.
But just before the early signing date, Sydney got a surprise offer from Illinois and he jumped at the chance to play in the Big Ten.
The only problem was it would separate the twins.
“They wanted to go to college together,” Raechel said. “That was the dream.”
THE BROWNS ARE identical twins but also mirror twins, a subtype in which each sibling’s features and traits are opposite from the other, creating a mirror-image effect. Sydney is right-handed; Chase is left-handed. Chase is laid back; Sydney operates with relentless intensity. When they were little, Raechel noticed their hair curling in opposite directions.
Like many twins, though, the Browns are drawn to each other.
As a freshman in 2018, Chase had 352 rushing yards for Western Michigan and returned 12 kickoffs. But he found out his scholarship didn’t cover flight classes, which he couldn’t afford.
He saw Sydney thriving at Illinois, starting 10 games and recording 55 tackles and five pass breakups. Despite a strong spring at WMU, Chase transferred.
“I wanted to be with him,” Chase said of his twin. “I wanted to have that relationship, where he could push me, I could push him, like we had in high school.”
While waiting to be admitted, Chase slept on the floor of Sydney’s apartment, on a “dog bed” of blankets and pillows. After gaining admission, he and Sydney moved to a larger place and began training camp with the Illini. The one-time transfer rule wasn’t in effect yet, so Chase sat out until mid-October, when he received an immediate-eligibility waiver to play. He appeared in four games, mostly on special teams, to preserve his redshirt.
0:30
Chase Brown runs through tacklers for TD
Chase Brown stays on his feet in the hole and gets into the end zone for an Illinois touchdown.
“His work ethic stood out to me right away, but he was a little impatient in his play,” said Cory Patterson, who coached Illinois’ tight ends at the time before switching to running backs in 2021. “Everything was fast, because he’s a fast kid. The way he talked, the way he thought, it was like [snaps his fingers three times], he wanted to give you the answer, ‘I want to get out there, I want to do it for you, I want to make it happen.’
“As he became more patient, you saw him develop.”
Sydney had a more linear trajectory at Illinois, earning third-team All-Big Ten honors in 2019, when he finished second in the Big Ten in interceptions (3) and sixth in tackles per game (8). When Aaron Henry arrived as defensive backs coach following a transition, he saw a detailed, observant player, fully dedicated to the game.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been around a player wired like him,” Henry said of Sydney. “Every day, he leaves the practice field, he has a 20-minute stretch routine. He has a 20-minute stretch routine he does right before he goes to bed. Then he eats the same thing for breakfast. It’s almost like OCD. He probably could have been a really good MMA fighter, just the way he approaches life and the way he approaches this game.”
0:28
Sydney Brown scores defensive touchdown vs. Illinois
Sydney Brown scores defensive touchdown vs. Illinois
Patterson has noticed similar discipline from Chase, who “just wants to work.”
Just how driven and disciplined are they? After taking the twins to Indianapolis for Big Ten media days in July, Illinois coach Bret Bielema watched them agonize over whether to drink a Coke before dinner.
They bring out the competitiveness in each other. One time in preseason practice, Sydney landed a big hit on Chase — “Stroked him,” Henry recalled — only to have Chase pop him in his facemask.
“We’re throwing hands at each other,” Sydney said. “I get kicked out of practice, he still gets to practice. I’m a total freak if you take something from me. He took my reps from practice. The competitive nature, it carries onto pretty much everything we do. It carries onto the hydration board, who’s going to drink their DripDrop first.
“It’s just fun having somebody that’s equally competitive on the other side of the ball.”
GROWING UP IN Canada, the Browns didn’t really talk about the NFL. Playing major college football was their goal. Both have earned their degrees at Illinois.
But their college careers have put both on the NFL radar. Chase, who has 2,648 rushing yards the past two seasons, is No. 137 on ESPN’s draft prospect rankings. Sydney has surged to No. 125 on ESPN’s prospect list, displaying a combination of speed, intelligence and physicality to thrive as a pro safety.
NFL scouts project both as Day 3 picks who will need to contribute on special teams and find the right schemes. Sydney’s special teams prowess should help his value. Before games, opposing coaches told Bielema how often Sydney jumped out during their special teams scouting.
“I can see a special teams coordinator falling in love with the guy, just in terms of his toughness and the speed,” a scout said.
Bielema described Sydney as a “niche fit safety,” suited for some NFL systems but not all. He’s a safety-linebacker hybrid who can play in the box because of his instincts, core strength and coverage skills.
“He’s got the impact and the power and ability to make short-area very powerful tackles, sheds blocks kind of like [former NFL safety] Bob Sanders,” said Bielema, who spent three seasons as an NFL assistant before coming to Illinois. “But he kind of has that big-play mentality of [New England Patriots safety] Jabrill Peppers. Especially the last half of the season, Sydney just took over the game on several occasions.”
All the way from Canada ??@chasebrown____ and @Sydbrown___ reunited with their mom after two years!#famILLy pic.twitter.com/0Nwcwbikd9
— Illinois Football (@IlliniFootball) November 27, 2021
Chase likely will be “more of a complementary back,” a scout said, lacking the biggest build at 5-foot-11 and 205 pounds. He reached 1,000 rushing yards in 2021 but eclipsed 18 carries only three times. Chase emerged this past season as not only a prolific and productive ball carrier — he had 20 or more carries in 10 of 12 games and just one performance of fewer than 98 rush yards — but also a versatile one.
He had 27 receptions, nearly eclipsing his total from his first three college seasons (31), and improved as a pass blocker.
“He can run right by you, he can run right through you and he can make you miss, that’s a very unusual combo,” Bielema said. “But the third-down value he brings is just very, very uncommon. … When you have a running back who can run it and protect, that’s going to bring good value.”
With their NFL journey set to begin in just a few months it’s likely the twins will be separated again. For now they are savoring their time together, though.
“How many people could say they played college ball with their brother?” Chase said. “We’re going to be able to look back on these four, five years of our lives and be like, ‘Remember this game? Remember when this happened?'”
Listening to his twin, Sydney nodded.
“There’s so much more to life.”
The first day of the 2025 MLB draft is complete! The Washington Nationals selected Eli Willits with the No. 1 pick, opting for the prep shortstop — who might be more likely to sign below slot — in a draft with no clear-cut top prospect. And there were plenty of other intriguing selections as the first three rounds unfolded Sunday night.
The Seattle Mariners had to have been thrilled to have Kiley McDaniel’s No. 1-ranked prospect, Kade Anderson, fall to them at No. 3, and Ethan Holliday was selected at No. 4 by his famous father’s former squad the Colorado Rockies.
We asked ESPN baseball insiders Alden Gonzalez, Jesse Rogers and David Schoenfield to break down their favorite and most head-scratching moves of the draft’s first night, as well as to predict which players will bring the most to their new teams in the long term.
A lot of us were thrown for a loop by the first two selections. What do you make of the Nationals taking Ethan Willits at No. 1 and the Angels picking Tyler Bremner at No. 2?
Gonzalez: I was stunned on both accounts. Though there was definitely some uncertainty around the Nationals’ approach, especially since the firing of GM Mike Rizzo, I didn’t see anybody, anywhere, projecting Willits to be their choice at No. 1 overall. But the Angels drafting Bremner was an even bigger risk. Kiley had him 18th in his latest ranking. Six pitchers were ranked ahead of him. But Bremner might be someone who can rise and impact their major league roster quickly, and the Angels are always looking for that.
Rogers: The first two picks really summed up the uncertainty of the entire draft. The Nationals’ faith in a 17-year-old will be tested over the coming years, but the pick will likely save them some money for later in this draft and give Willits time to grow. The same can be said of many of the top picks: They’re going to need time. There are far fewer sure things this year — though Bremner could be the exception. The Angles love to graduate their players quickly, and as a college arm, he could see the majors sooner rather than later. Like Willits, this could also be a cost-saving move for later spending.
Schoenfield: In a draft that not only lacked a sure-thing No. 1 overall pick but was viewed as weaker at the top than those of recent years, it’s perhaps not a huge surprise that the Nationals and Angels used their picks to strike likely underslot deals with Willits and Bremner, giving them money to spend later in the draft — which they can use on high school prospects who might have slipped, trying to buy them out from going to college. It’s a strategy teams have used with success over the years, so the drafts for the Nationals and Angels will have to be viewed in their totality and not just focused on these two players.
What was your favorite pick of the night — and which one had you scratching your head?
Gonzalez: The Rockies have done a lot of things wrong over these last few … uh, decades. But it was really cool to see them take Ethan Holliday at No. 4 after his father, Matt, starred in Colorado for so long. Outside of the top two picks, Ethan Conrad going 17th to the Cubs was my biggest surprise of the night. Kiley had him ranked 30th; others had him falling out of the first round entirely. There’s uncertainty coming off shoulder surgery. But Conrad, 21, put up a 1.238 OPS in 97 plate appearances before his season ended prematurely in March. And the dearth of college bats probably influenced a slight reach here.
Rogers: I’m loving Billy Carlson to the White Sox at No. 10. Though they lost 121 games last season, Chicago couldn’t pick higher than this spot per CBA rules — but the Sox might have gotten a top-five player. Carlson’s defense will play extremely well behind a sneaky good and young pitching staff that should keep the ball on the ground in the long term. Meanwhile, with the pick of the litter when it came to hitters — college outfielders and high school kids as well — the Pirates took a high school pitcher at No. 6. Seth Hernandez could be great, but they need hitting. A lot of it.
Schoenfield: The Mariners reportedly wanted LSU left-hander Kade Anderson all along, but they certainly couldn’t have been expecting to get him with the third pick. (Keep in mind that the Mariners were lucky in the first place to land the third pick in the lottery, so they added some good fortune on top of good luck.) They get the most polished college pitcher in the draft, one who should move quickly — and perhaps make it a little easier for Jerry Dipoto to dip into his farm system and upgrade the big league roster at the trade deadline. Even though I understand why the Angels did it, Bremner still seems a little questionable. With the second pick, you want to go for a home run, and the consensus is that Holliday or even Anderson is more likely to be a more impactful major leaguer. Bremner’s lack of a third plus pitch is an issue, and you have to wonder if the Angels are relying too much on his control — which, yes, should allow him to get to the majors — and ignoring the possible lack of upside.
Who is the one player you’d like to plant your flag on as the biggest steal of this draft?
Gonzalez: Seth Hernandez, who went sixth to the Pirates and should someday share a rotation with Paul Skenes and Jared Jones. High school pitchers are incredibly risky, especially when taken so early in the draft. But Hernandez is a great athlete who already throws hard, boasts a plus changeup and showed improvement with his breaking ball this spring. He’ll go the Hunter Greene route, from standout high school pitcher to major league ace.
Rogers: Jamie Arnold will look like a steal at No. 11, especially when he debuts in the majors well before many of the players taken around him. I’m not worried about the innings drop in 2025 — not when he was striking out 119 hitters and walking just 27. The A’s need to polish him up but will be pleased by how consistent he’ll be. You can’t go wrong with a college lefty from an ACC school — at least, the A’s didn’t.
Schoenfield: I’m going with Billy Carlson with the 10th pick — with the admitted caveat that the White Sox haven’t exactly been stellar at developing hitters. But Carlson looks like an elite defensive shortstop with plus power, and that alone can make him a valuable major leaguer. If the hit tool comes along, we’re looking at a potential star. OK, he’s Bobby Witt Jr. lite? That’s still an All-Star player.
What’s your biggest takeaway from Day 1 of this draft?
Gonzalez: The Nationals throwing a wrench into the proceedings by selecting Willits. It was a surprising choice, but in their minds an easy one. Interim general manager Mike DeBartolo called Willits the best hitter and best fielder available. And in a draft devoid of can’t-miss, high-impact talent, Willits is no doubt a solid pick — a polished hitter who should stick at shortstop and might consistently hit 20 homers and steal 20 bases at a premium position. He also might come under slot, allowing flexibility later in the draft. But his selection is what allowed Anderson to reach the Mariners at No. 3 and prompted the Rockies to draft Holliday at No. 4, among other dominoes. It set a really interesting tone.
Rogers: Things change quickly in baseball. Whereas college hitters are usually the safest bets early in the draft, this year high school position players dominated. (And they all play shortstop, at least for now.) Athleticism has returned to baseball, and draft rooms are acting accordingly.
Schoenfield: I’m agreeing with Jesse. The selection of that many prep shortstops stood out — and they all seem to hit left-handed and run well, and some of them have big power potential and a cannon for an arm. Look, the hit tool is the most important and the hardest to scout and project, so not all these kids are going to make it, but their potential is exciting and, to Jesse’s point, their wide range of tools is showing that baseball is still drawing top athletes to the sport.
The 2025 MLB All-Star Home Run Derby is fast approaching — and the field is set.
Braves hometown hero Ronald Acuna Jr. became the first player to commit to the event, which will be held at Truist Park in Atlanta on July 14 (8 p.m. ET on ESPN). He was followed by MLB home run leader Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners, James Wood of the Washington Nationals, Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins, Oneil Cruz of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays, Brent Rooker of the Athletics and Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the New York Yankees.
On Friday, however, Acuna was replaced by teammate Matt Olson.
With all the entrants announced, let’s break down their chances at taking home this year’s Derby prize.
Full All-Star Game coverage: How to watch, schedule, rosters, more
2025 home runs: 17 | Longest: 434 feet
Why he could win: Olson is a late replacement for Acuna as the home team’s representative at this year’s Derby. Apart from being the Braves’ first baseman, however, Olson also was born in Atlanta and grew up a Braves fan, giving him some extra motivation. The left-handed slugger led the majors in home runs in 2023 — his 54 round-trippers that season also set a franchise record — and he remains among the best in the game when it comes to exit velo and hard-hit rate.
Why he might not: The home-field advantage can also be a detriment if a player gets too hyped up in the first round. See Julio Rodriguez in Seattle in 2023, when he had a monster first round, with 41 home runs, but then tired out in the second round.
2025 home runs: 36 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: It’s the season of Cal! The Mariners’ catcher is having one of the greatest slugging first halves in MLB history, as he’s been crushing mistakes all season . His easy raw power might be tailor-made for the Derby — he ranks in the 87th percentile in average exit velocity and delivers the ball, on average, at the optimal home run launch angle of 23 degrees. His calm demeanor might also be perfect for the contest as he won’t get too amped up.
Why he might not: He’s a catcher — and one who has carried a heavy workload, playing in all but one game this season. This contest is as much about stamina as anything, and whether Raleigh can carry his power through three rounds would be a concern. No catcher has ever won the Derby, with only Ivan Rodriguez back in 2005 even reaching the finals.
2025 home runs: 24 | Longest: 451 feet
Why he could win: He’s big, he’s strong, he’s young, he’s awesome, he might or might not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. This is the perfect opportunity for Wood to show his talent on the national stage, and he wouldn’t be the first young player to star in the Derby. He ranks in the 97th percentile in average exit velocity and 99th percentile in hard-hit rate, so he can still muscle the ball out in BP even if he slightly mishits it. His long arms might be viewed as a detriment, but remember the similarly tall Aaron Judge won in 2017.
Why he might not: His natural swing isn’t a pure uppercut — he has a pretty low average launch angle of just 6.2 degrees — so we’ll see how that plays in a rapid-fire session. In real games, his power is primarily to the opposite field, but in a Home Run Derby you can get more cheapies pulling the ball down the line.
2025 home runs: 20 | Longest: 479 feet
Why he could win: Buxton’s raw power remains as impressive as nearly any hitter in the game. He crushed a 479-foot home run earlier this season and has four others of at least 425 feet. Indeed, his “no doubter” percentage — home runs that would be out of all 30 parks based on distance — is 75%, the highest in the majors among players with more than a dozen home runs. His bat speed ranks in the 89th percentile. In other words, two tools that could translate to a BP lightning show.
Why he might not: Buxton is 31 and the Home Run Derby feels a little more like a younger man’s competition. Teoscar Hernandez did win last year at age 31, but before that, the last winner older than 29 was David Ortiz in 2010, and that was under much different rules than are used now.
2025 home runs: 16 | Longest: 463 feet
Why he could win: If you drew up a short list of players everyone wants to see in the Home Run Derby, Cruz would be near the top. He has the hardest-hit ball of the 2025 season, and the hardest ever tracked by Statcast, a 432-foot missile of a home run with an exit velocity of 122.9 mph. He also crushed a 463-foot home run in Anaheim that soared way beyond the trees in center field. With his elite bat speed — 100th percentile — Cruz has the ability to awe the crowd with a potentially all-time performance.
Why he might not: Like all first-time contestants, can he stay within himself and not get too caught up in the moment? He has a long swing, which will result in some huge blasts, but might not be the most efficient for a contest like this one, where the more swings a hitter can get in before the clock expires, the better.
2025 home runs: 23 | Longest: 425 feet
Why he could win: Although Caminero was one of the most hyped prospects entering 2024, everyone kind of forgot about him heading into this season since he didn’t immediately rip apart the majors as a rookie. In his first full season, however, he has showed off his big-time raw power — giving him a chance to become just the third player to reach 40 home runs in his age-21 season. He has perhaps the quickest bat in the majors, ranking in the 100th percentile in bat speed, and his top exit velocity ranks in the top 15. That could translate to a barrage of home runs.
Why he might not: In game action, Caminero does hit the ball on the ground quite often — in fact, he’s on pace to break Jim Rice’s record for double plays grounded into in a season. If he gets out of rhythm, that could lead to a lot of low line drives during the Derby instead of fly balls that clear the fences.
2025 home runs: 19 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: The Athletics slugger has been one of the top power hitters in the majors for three seasons now and is on his way to a third straight 30-homer season. Rooker has plus bat speed and raw power, but his biggest strength is an optimal average launch angle (19 degrees in 2024, 15 degrees this season) that translates to home runs in game action. That natural swing could be picture perfect for the Home Run Derby. He also wasn’t shy about saying he wanted to participate — and maybe that bodes well for his chances.
Why he might not: Rooker might not have quite the same raw power as some of the other competitors, as he has just one home run longer than 425 feet in 2025. But that’s a little nitpicky, as 11 of his home runs have still gone 400-plus feet. He competed in the college home run derby in Omaha while at Mississippi State in 2016 and finished fourth.
2025 home runs: 17 | Longest: 442 feet
Why he could win: Chisholm might not be the most obvious name to participate, given his career high of 24 home runs, but he has belted 17 already in 2025 in his first 61 games after missing some time with an injury. He ranks among the MLB leaders in a couple of home run-related categories, ranking in the 96th percentile in expected slugging percentage and 98th percentile in barrel rate. His raw power might not match that of the other participants, but he’s a dead-pull hitter who has increased his launch angle this season, which might translate well to the Derby, even if he won’t be the guy hitting the longest home runs.
Why he might not: Most of the guys who have won this have been big, powerful sluggers. Chisholm is listed at 5-foot-11, 184 pounds, and you have to go back to Miguel Tejada in 2004 to find the last player under 6 foot to win.
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