Pirates Outfielder Selected for Home Run Derby
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The Pittsburgh Pirates are headed for All-Star week in Atlanta, and with them is center fielder and record holder Oneil Cruz. The league announced earlier today that Cruz, who has the highest exit velocity in the league, is set to appear in the Home Run Derby, which takes place on July 14.
Oneil Cruz is in the Derby!
— MLB (@MLB) July 8, 2025
The @Pirates slugger, who has the highest exit velo in baseball, announced on Instagram that he’ll participate in the 2025 @TMobile #HRDerby! pic.twitter.com/LJk0OP4XBr
In addition to recording 15 home runs thus far and having the most stolen bases in the NL (28), Cruz has been setting records all season. With a 122.9 MPH home run against the Milwaukee Brewers back in May, Cruz set the record for the hardest hit home run of the Statcast era, which began in 2017. Just this past weekend, Cruz threw a wicked 105.2 MPH throw to tag out Seattle Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford, the second-hardest thrown ball to lead to an outfield assist since MLB began tracking the statistic in 2016.
Other participants include Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, who leads the MLB with 35 homers, Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr., with nine, Washington Nationals left fielder James Wood (23) and Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton (20).
Notably absent from the lineup thus far are New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge and Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shoehei Ohtani, who rank second and third in the league, respectively, for home runs. However, both Judge and Ohtani will start in the All-Star game on July 15. With them, Cruz's teammate and Pirates ace Paul Skenes is listed as a starter. Skenes started the 2024 All-Star game and went on to win the 2024 NL Rookie of the Year.
Delilah Bourque is a writer and copyeditor based out of Pittsburgh, PA. She received her Bachelor's degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 2021. After a few years in corporate marketing, she joined On SI as a full-time copyeditor and contributor to the New York Yankees On SI, as well as occasional contributions across the Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Steelers on SI.