Home Run Derby Participants List: Live Update of Who's in & Who's Out

Here's who's in and who's out for the 2025 Home Run Derby.

Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez won the 2024 Home Run Derby. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

MLB All-Star voting races are heating up and the All-Star break is around the corner, which means that it will soon be time to see baseball's biggest stars take center stage in the Midsummer Classic at Truist Park in Atlanta, Ga. But prior to the 2025 All-Star game, baseball fans will get an appetizer in the form of the Home Run Derby, in which some of the game's best sluggers will aim to test the limits of Truist Park on July 14.

The Derby certainly hasn't been short on stars in past years, and this year is no different. The Home Run Derby field is officially set with eight sluggers.

During a June 25 appearance on SportsCenter, Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuna Jr. became the first player to announce he'd be participating in the Derby. But Acuna, who had missed a July 8 game against the Oakland Athletics due to back tightness, withdrew from the Home Run Derby on July 11, saying he was doing so as a "precaution." Acuna's Braves teammate Matt Olson replaced him in the Derby, ensuring there will be a representative of the Braves at Truist Park.

MLB's home run leader and Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh announced his intention to take part in the first Home Run Derby of his career on June 27. It will be a family affair for Raleigh, as his father Todd will throw to him and his younger brother, Todd Jr., may catch at the event.

On July 3, Washington Nationals outfielder James Wood announced via Instagram that he would be taking part in the Home Run Derby for the first time in his career. Then, the Derby got its fourth contestant on July 7 when Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton on Instagram announced his intention to participate, later revealing his son Brixton's adorable plan to help his father during the competition.

Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz was added to the list of participants Tuesday, making him the fifth player to commit to the Home Run Derby. On Wednesday, Tampa Bay Rays rising stra Junior Caminero entered the Derby via an Instagram post. On Thursday, Oakland Athletics outfielder Brent Rooker took to Instagram to announce that he'll be participating in the Derby, making him the seventh player.

Finally, New York Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. became the eighth and final participant added to the Derby on Thursday, July 10. Chisholm confirmed his interest in the event after a two home run night for the Yankees against the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday. Since his return from a stint on the injured list, Chisholm has been on an absolute tear, with seven home runs in his last 12 games.

Full List of Every Player in the 2025 Home Run Derby

Player	Participated in HRD Before?	Home Runs	Average exit Velocity (mph)	Max exit Velocity (mph)	Average launch angle (degrees)
Matt Olson	Yes	17	93.7	113.8	14.4
Cal Raleigh	No	33	92.0	113.2	23.7
James Wood	No	22	94.0	117.9	6.2
Byron Buxton	No	20	91.5	112.5	18.1
Oneil Cruz	No	15	96.1	122.9	8.4
Junior Caminero	No	21	91.2	116.5	10.1
Brent Rooker	No	19	91.5	112.4	14.5
Jazz Chisholm Jr.	No	17	90.0	112.1	11.9

Who's out? Players who have declined to participate in Home Run Derby

Unfortunately for MLB, some of baseball's brightest stars have already declined to participate in the Derby. Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Elly De La Cruz, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., just to name a few. Perhaps most notably, four-time Derby participant and two-time champion Pete Alonso also won't be taking part in the festivities this year, citing a desire to enjoy the time off during the All-Star break. As mentioned earlier, Acuna, the first player to enter the Derby, withdrew on July 11.

Home Run Derby participants by the numbers

With the field of eight sluggers presumably set, let's take a deeper statistical dive into the participants for the 2025 Home Run Derby. We'll rank the sluggers in a series of Statcast metrics, first with average bat speed.

Player	Avg. Bat Speed (mph)
Oneil Cruz	78.6
Junior Caminero	78.0
James Wood	76.1
Cal Raleigh	75.1
Byron Buxton	74.9
Brent Rooker	73.8
Matt Olson	73.7
Jazz Chisholm Jr.	73.4

Next, we'll rank the sluggers by barrel rate.

Player	Barrel Rate (%)
Oneil Cruz	22.5
Cal Raleigh	20.0
Jazz Chisholm Jr.	19.0
James Wood	18.6
Matt Olson	16.3
Byron Buxton	15.0
Brent Rooker	14.4
Junior Caminero	11.0

Finally, we'll take a look at the Home Run Derby participants ranked by their hard-hit percentages, another key metric when evaluating home run hitters.

Player	Hard-Hit %
Oneil Cruz	58.1
James Wood	55.8
Matt Olson	54.1
Byron Buxton	53.9
Cal Raleigh	49.2
Junior Caminero	47.7
Brent Rooker	47.5
Jazz Chisholm Jr.	45.6

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