The Home Run Derby is all about fireworks. Fans want to tune in and be treated to a show as the game’s best power hitters launch home run after home run into the night sky.
That’s just what O’Neil Cruz did in the first round of the 2025 Home Run Derby.
Everyone was excited to see what he could do in the competition because earlier this season, Cruz set the StatCast Era record for the hardest hit ball with a 122.9 mph home run that went over 430 feet. He broke his own record that he had set back in 2022 with a 122.4-mph single.
With his blend of size and bat speed, expectations were high for the Pirates center fielder in the Home Run Derby, and he didn’t disappoint.
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Here’s more on Cruz’s first-round performance in the 2025 Home Run Derby.
MORE 2025 HOME RUN DERBY:
Oneil Cruz Home Run Derby performance
First Round
All 21 home run swings from Oneil Cruz in the opening round of the Home Run Derby tonight
MY CENTER FIELDER IS ALREADY INTO THE SEMIS pic.twitter.com/2CBpI8zUee
— Platinum Ke’Bryan (@PlatinumKey13) July 15, 2025
Cruz was fourth to hit in the first round following James Wood, Brent Rooker, and Junior Caminero. The latter had just finished hitting 21 home runs in his round. While it seemed like the Pirates outfielder was swinging effortlessly and seeing 475-feet home run results, there is one first-round swing that stood above all the rest.
Cruz hit 21 home runs in total in his round. One of them left his bat at 118 mph and went an absurd 513 feet.
Oneil Cruz just hit a baseball 513 FEET with an exit velo of 118 MPH DEAR GOD 🧨pic.twitter.com/0EFBD2GNJG
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) July 15, 2025
StatCast began tracking home runs in 2016. Cruz’s home run is tied for the longest home run hit in a Home Run Derby that wasn’t held in Colorado. The high altitude of Coors Field causes the ball to fly further, skewing the results of contests held there.
Cruz tied perennial MVP candidate Aaron Judge for the longest non-Coors Field HR. Judge hit one 513 feet in Miami in 2017.
With Jazz Chisholm only hitting three home runs in his round, Cruz was locked into the semifinals.
Second Round
After making headlines in the first round, all eyes were on Cruz to ball out in the second. The Home Run Derby format goes to a bracket style competition in the second round. Since Cruz hit the most home runs in the first round, he was the No. 1 seed and took on No. 4 Cal Raleigh. The Mariners ‘ switch-hitting catcher launched 19 home runs in the second round. Cruz was back to hitting his moonshots, but he had too many that he kept topping, which the announcers pointed out would be good swings in real games, but he wasn’t getting under the ball enough to make the finals.
Cruz finished with 13 home runs, but he will always have that 513 ft. rocket from the first round.
