Despite suffering a fallback early on in the final round, Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper secured the 2018 MLB Home Run Derby championship at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. It might help his value on the free agent market now. Harper hit a total of 45 dingers in this year's derby, which featured a total of 221 combined from all participants. The 221 marks the most home runs hit in the history of the derby, as reported by Yahoo! Sports.

As ESPN reports, Harper won the title with 19 home runs in his final round appearance, with the winning one coming in an earned 30-second bonus time, defeating Kyle Schwarber of the Chicago Cubs.

Harper becomes the third player in MLB history to win the derby title in his home ballpark, joining Ryne Sandberg (1990) and Todd Frazier (2015).

Home run youngblood

Harper was the only one of the eight participants to not be participating in his first home run derby, as this was his second. Harper competed at the 2013 derby, held at Citi Field in Queens, New York. Harper finished as the runner-up that year, falling to Yoenis Cespedes in that year's final.

The average age of all eight participants was 26 years and four months, marking the youngest field in home run derby history.

The 28-year-old Freddie Freeman of the Atlanta Braves was the oldest participant in this year's outing.

Home run derby recap

No. 1 seed Jesus Aguilar, the first baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers, was upset in the derby's opening match, losing 17-12 to Rhys Hoskins of the Philadelphia Phillies. This marks the fourth year in a row that the No.

1 seed of the derby failed to reach the final. It also marked the second consecutive year the No. 1 seed fell to the No. 8 seed in the opening round. Last year, Gary Sanchez ousted current teammate, and then-Marlins slugger, Giancarlo Stanton.

The first round also saw the fifth-seeded Schwarber defeat No.

4 Alex Bregman of the Houston Astros, 16-15. Schwarber's final two home runs in the round came during bonus time, while Bregman's final hit narrowly missed going out of the park, hitting the outfield wall (Bregman did not earn bonus time). The rest of the round saw No. 3 Max Muncy of the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat No. 6 Javier Baez of the Chicago Cubs, and Harper, the No. 2 seed, win against seventh-seeded Freddie Freeman of the Atlanta Braves.

Schwarber then bested Hoskins in the semi-finals, winning 21-20, after being down by eight home runs with 90 seconds remaining. Meanwhile, Harper got a win in his semi-final over Muncy, 13-12. Harper then, with his father pitching to him, mounted a major comeback in the last two minutes of his final-round performance to clinch this year's title.

Now, Harper will look to bounce back in the second-half of the 2018 MLB season.

The 2019 Home Run Derby will be held at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio, home of the Cleveland Indians.
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