Those poor outfielders are in trouble.
There's an art to the Home Run Derby. Pacing and strategy could decide a champion, a poorly-picked pitcher might ruin one's outing. Between timeouts, extra time, and a bracket system, the Derby might have more thinking involved than ever before.
But that's not why we watch it. America watches the Home Run Derby because America loves the long ball, and there's nothing quite like sitting back and watching moonshots add stars to the Monday night sky.
There will be no shortage of majestic home runs in Atlanta on Monday. But Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz is bringing a different type of power to the Derby.
Oneil Cruz makes his Home Run Derby decision
On Tuesday, Cruz took to Instagram to announce that he'll be participating in the Home Run Derby. He's the fifth star to lock himself into the festivities, joining hometown hero Ronald Acuña Jr., Washington Nationals phenom James Wood, MLB's home run leader, Cal Raleigh, and Minnesota Twins star Byron Buxton.
Cruz's exit velocity stands out, even among the top sluggers in the sport. This was epitomized on May 25, when he broke the record for the hardest hit ball of the Statcast era (since 2015). The 122.9 mph blast cleared the previous MLB record, a 122.4 mph single he hit in 2022.
THE HARDEST HIT BALL IN THE STATCAST ERA!!!
— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) May 25, 2025
ONEIL CRUZ, 122.9 MPH INTO THE RIVER! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/RB8F9O3Xvc
He doesn't just have the two hardest hit balls the sport has ever (accurately) recorded. He also leads the league in average exit velocity (96.1 mph) and 90th-percentile exit velocity (114.3 mph). They don't call his home runs Cruz Missiles without reason.
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Of the 127 players with at least 10 home runs this season, only 19 average a lower launch angle on their home runs than Cruz (27 degrees). Interestingly enough, Wood also sits at 27 degrees, and Acuña sits a tick higher, while Raleigh leads the group with the highest-arcing shots.
While many of Monday's participants were already All-Stars, pulling double duty during the break, Cruz will head to Atlanta without that title. He's in the middle of the worst offensive season of his career, sporting a 97 wRC+ and a .203 batting average. Even in a profile of extremes (Cruz strikes out over 30% of the time), there's reason to believe his struggles are predominantly on poor batted ball luck.
Even so, he's logged 15 home runs in 80 games.
Having never made an All-Star team, Cruz is finally due for the national audience his ludicrous talent demands. He's set to put on a show for the Pittsburgh faithful on Monday.
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Category: Baseball
