Oneil Cruz entered the 2025 Home Run Derby as a betting favorite, despite having the least amount of home runs at the All-Star break among his fellow seven participants.
Cruz ultimately fell in the semifinals to eventual winner Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners, who bested the Pittsburgh Pirates slugger 19-13 to advance against Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero for the crown.
But Cruz, doing what he does best, managed to steal the show at Truist Park in Atlanta, belting what ended up being the longest home run of the night, a 513-foot shot, for his eighth homer in the opening round.
“I felt really good,” Cruz said mid-performance during an on-field interview. “It’s what everybody loves to do. I love taking (batting practice), and that’s how I treated this.”
Oneil Cruz hit this ball 513 feet ???? pic.twitter.com/oY5DgGGgZ3
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 15, 2025
In the opening round and semifinals, Cruz hit a combined 34 home runs, 32 of which traveled more than 400 feet.
Twenty-nine of Cruz’s 34 homers went more than 425 feet, and nine of them were 460 or more feet.
In terms of exit velocity, every Cruz blast was at least 102 mph, and 14 were 110 mph or faster.
The 513-footer was Cruz’s hardest hit ball of the night, leaving the bat at an estimated 118 mph.
Before long, ESPN’s broadcast team had dove into the significance of Cruz’s 513-footer, which quickly assumed a prominent place on the list of longest Home Run Derby balls hit in the Statcast era (from 2015).
For starters, Cruz’s home run tied for the longest ever hit at a non-Coors Field ballpark, per MLB.com. The Rockies’ home in Denver sits a mile above sea level at 5,280 feet, which significantly impacts how far balls travel.
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
Yankees star Aaron Judge also managed a 513-foot homer in 2017, when he won the Home Run Derby in Miami as a rookie.
Including balls hit at Coors Field, Cruz’s homer ranked as the fourth longest behind Juan Soto (2021, 520 feet), Trevor Story (2021, 518 feet) and Pete Alonso (2021, 514 feet).
Another Judge moonshot from 2017 in Miami traveled 507 feet and ranked second away from Coors Field until Cruz came to bat Monday.
The No. 4 (504 feet) and No. 5 (501 feet) longest homers in the Derby also belonged to Judge from 2017, and Cruz stepped into sixth place with his second-longest home run of the evening Monday, a 498-foot blast in the semifinals.
Rounding out that list was a pair of homers by Giancarlo Stanton in San Diego from the 2016 Home Run Derby, as he hit a pair of bombs that traveled 497 feet.
For comparison Monday, Raleigh’s longest home run was a 471-footer. Washington’s James Wood hit one 486 feet in the first round, and Caminero’s deepest shot went 475 feet. Byron Buxton of the Twins managed a 466-footer, and the Athletics’ Brent Rooker sent one 471 feet.
Jazz Chisholm of the Yankees hit a Derby-low three homers, the longest of which was 453 feet. Atlanta native and Braves first baseman Matt Olson’s longest homer went 460 feet.
