Oneil Cruz officially fifth entry in upcoming Home Run Derby for MLB
MLB All-Star Game
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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 Acuna 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. He hit a solo shot in Tuesday's loss.
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.
There have been 10 baseballs this year that were hit at least 118 mph. Cruz has six of them. Since his debut season in 2022, Cruz has hit 12 of the 24 hardest-hit balls in the sport (including the postseason).
Distance wise, Cruz's longest home run on record is a 472-foot blast he hit off of Brandon Pfaadt on July 27, 2024. His longest this year was on April 23 and went an estimated 463 feet. That shot ranks as the 15th-longest homer of this season.
He also leads the Pirates and the National League with 28 steals. He could possibly join Barry Bonds as the only Pirates players to ever record a 30-30 season.
Cruz will be the first Pirate to participate in the Derby since Josh Bell in 2019 and the sixth to ever do so. Also representing the Pirates were Bobby Bonilla in 1990, Bonds in 1992, Andrew McCutchen in 2012 and Pedro Alvarez in 2013. No Pirate has ever advanced past the first round.