Pirates' Paul Skenes Names Home Run Derby Winner

Cruz will face a stacked list of contenders in the Home Run Derby. This includes New York Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr., Seattle Mariners catcher/designated hitter Cal Raleigh, Athletics designated hitter/outfielder Brent Rooker, Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero, Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton, Washington Nationals left fielder James Wood and Atlanta Braves right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr.

He has 16 home runs on the season, the second-lowest of any competitor, outside of Acuña, who only came back to the MLB on May 23 after an ACL tear in 2024.

Cruz has shown his power throughout this season, hitting six of the 10 balls hit over 110 mph in the MLB this season and 11 of the 19 hardest hit-baseballs since his debut in 2022, according to Alex Stumpf of MLB.com.

He also set the record for the hardest hit home run of the Statcast era (since 2015) on May 25 against the Milwaukee Brewers right-handed starting pitcher Logan Henderson at PNC Park.

This broke the record for the hardest hit ball of his career, which he set two days prior against Brewers right-handed starting pitcher Freddy Peralta on May 23.

Cruz has had two multi-home run games this season, the only ones of his career, which came vs. the Brewers on May 23 and against the New York Mets on June 29, also at PNC Park.

History isn't on Cruz's side for the Home Run Derby, at least him being a Pirate, with no winner from the franchise since the competition's inception in 1985.

Bobby Bonilla hit no home runs in 1990, Barry Bonds hit just two in 1992 and Jason Bay hit no home runs in 2005. Andrew McCutchen hit just four home runs in 2012 and Pedro Álvarez hit six home runs, but both were just one shy of making it out of the First Round.

Josh Bell is the most recent contestant in 2019, where he hit 18 home runs in the changed format with no outs, but lost to Acuña in the first round, who hit 25.

Cruz will need both his strong power and endurance if he wants to come out victorious, just like Skenes thinks he will.