Why Pirates star Oneil Cruz will be a must-watch player in HR Derby 

Cruz joins a lineup that currently consists of Braves star Ronald Acuna Jr., MLB home run leader Cal Raleigh of the Mariners, the Nationals' James Wood and the Twins' Byron Buxton. There are still two spots remaining with Cruz added to the mix.

Cruz becomes the seventh player to appear in a Derby while representing the Pirates. Bobby Bonilla (1990), Barry Bonds (1992), Jason Bay (2005), Andrew McCutchen (2012), Pedro Alvarez (2013) and the aforementioned Bell are the others.

Fortunately for Cruz, it's very unlikely he won't at least exceed one former Bucco. Bay failed to even hit one single homer when he took part as a native of Canada when the event honored the upcoming inaugural World Baseball Classic.

Even though Cruz has the fewest number of home runs (15) of any slugger in the derby, his exit velocity prowess makes him a must-watch. Cruz leads the majors in exit velocity at 108.3 mph, a statistic that measures how hard a player hits a baseball, and bat also in bat speed at 78.6 mph. 

Back on My 25, Cruz demolished a baseball that traveled 432 feet with an exit velocity of 122.9 mph. The home run was the hardest ever hit in the Statcast era, which originated in 2015.

The 2025 MLB Home Run Derby will take place from Atlanta's Truist Park on Monday, July 14. The fireworks are set to get underway at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.