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Pittsburgh Pirates’ Oneil Cruz, center, celebrates with Ke’Bryan Hayes (13) after both scored on his two-run home run off New York Mets pitcher Dedniel Nez during the seventh inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Sunday, June 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz, known more for delivering hard-hit homers than producing them in quantity, was added Tuesday to next week’s Home Run Derby in Atlanta.
He is the fifth player named as a participant in Monday’s event at Truist Park, which hosts the All-Star Game a night later. Also competing are Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr., Minnesota’s Byron Buxton, Seattle’s Cal Raleigh and Washington’s James Wood.
Cruz, 26, had 15 homers entering Tuesday night’s game at Kansas City. He hit a career-best 21 last season.
When the 6-foot-7 Cruz hits a homer, he often hits it hard. On May 25 against visiting Milwaukee, he hit a ball measured at 122.9 mph into the Allegheny River, the highest exit velocity on a home run since Statcast began tracking in 2015.
He also showed off his arm Sunday with a 105.2 mph throw to nail Seattle’s J.P. Crawford at the plate. That was the second-hardest thrown ball to produce an outfield assist recorded by Statcast.
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