Pirates' Oneil Cruz just delivered the most electrifying Home Run Derby moment in a decade

Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Oneil Cruz, owner of the record for the hardest-hit ball in the Statcast era, displayed his tremendous power on baseball's biggest stage Monday night at the 2025 MLB Home Run Derby at Truist Field in Atlanta.

Batting fourth in the eight-player field, Cruz put on a show in the first round of the derby and hit 21 balls out of the park to tie Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays for the lead. He got off to a rather slow start, hitting just seven home runs before taking a timeout with 1:40 left in his round. He popped off after the timeout, however, finishing 18 homers in his allotted time of three minutes and added three more in the bonus round.

Pirates' Oneil Cruz just delivered the most electrifying Home Run Derby moment in a decade

Cruz’s round was easily the most entertaining up to that point, as he finished with the three longest homers of the night four batters in at 513, 488 and 487 feet.

Cruz hit the longest home run of his career (472 feet) on July 27, 2024, off Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Brandon Pfaadt at Chase Field. His Pirates teammate, National League All-Star starter Paul Skenes said earlier this week confident that Cruz would not only shatter that record, but that he would crush at least one ball farther than 500 feet. On his eighth home run of the night, Cruz did just that.

Cruz's 500-foot moonshot tied Aaron Judge for the longest home run in derby history (outside of Colorado's Coors Field) since Statcast began tracking in 2016. Judge accomplished the feat in 2017 at Miami’s loanDepot park.

The players with the top four homer totals in the first round will advance to the semifinals. In the event of a first-round tie, the player who hit the longest home run during that round advances.

In the semifinals, the format shifts to a bracket style in which the seeds are determined by the number of home runs each player hit in the first round. Players will have two minutes or 27 pitches in the semifinals and finals, and home run totals from the first round don't carry over.

The winners of the two semifinal matchups advance to the finals, where the limits are reduced to two minutes and 27 pitches. The player with the most home runs after that period is crowned Home Run Derby champion and wins a cash prize of $1 million.

Cruz is the first Pirates player to compete in the Home Run Derby since Josh Bell in 2019. Other former Pirates contestants include Pedro Álvarez in 2013, Andrew McCutchen in 2012, Jason Bay in 2005, Barry Bonds in 1992 and Bobby Bonilla in 1990. No Pirates player has ever won the Home Run Derby, but Cruz is looking to change that this year.

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