Oneil Cruz may not have won the Home Run Derby Monday night, but he put up the most electric showing of any batter at Truist Park in Atlanta. Cruz’s run to the semifinals put his name on the Major League Baseball map and, if even for a moment, portrayed the Pirates’ name in a positive light.
Cruz was the seventh Pirate to participate in the Derby, but unlike the six men before him, Cruz was the first Pirate to advance past the opening round. He also set a new Pirates high for home runs in the Derby, surpassing the 18 home runs that Josh Bell hit when he was invited back in 2019.
Cruz hit fourth in the eight-man field, coming up to bat right after Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero, who put together a strong 21-home run outing to take first place in the opening round.
But Cruz’s performance was even more impressive. Baseball’s hardest hitter also racked up 21 smacks into the outfield stands and beyond, but a 513-foot shot during the opening round dazzled the crowd. The 118 mile-per-hour fireball tied a record for the longest home run at the Derby anywhere except Coors Field, and stood as the longest home run of the 2025 Derby.
Cruz actually finished first in the opening field, with that record-tying homer giving him the tiebreaker over Caminero.
In the semifinal, Cruz slotted in as the first seed, taking on baseball’s home run leader in Cal Raleigh, the four-ssed who just squeaked in to the semifinals thanks to a the literal closest of margins. Had one of Brent Rooker’s dingers not gone .08 inches farther, he would have faced off against Cruz in the semis.
While Cruz and Raleigh provided a better second-round matchup than Caminero and Byron Buxton, the Pittsburgh center fielder ran into a powerful switch hitter that was only heating up as the tournament went along.
Raleigh drilled 19 home runs in two minutes in the second frame, giving Cruz a tall order to try and respond to. In the end, Cruz put up a valiant fight, but fell short with 13 home runs. He had the beginnings of an all-time great Derby comeback, hitting back-to-back bombs while he was down to his final out, but Raleigh was the winner.
At least Cruz lost to the man who won it all; Seattle’s catcher took the title over Caminero, defeating him 18-15 in the final to crown him the champion.
Even if Cruz didn’t end up winning it all, it was still an excellent night for him, the Pirates organization, and the fan base.
Look, the Pirates don’t have a lot going right for them right now. They are in year six of a rebuild orchestrated by a general manager who has been granted more time here than pretty much any other team would allow. They are almost 20 games under .500 and on their way to their tenth straight season of missing the playoffs.
The GM is prepared to conduct a sell-off once again, and the sophomore season of Paul Skenes, arguably more dominant than his rookie one, is going to waste.
But for one night, Pirates fans got to sit back and watch one of their own put some pride into the Pirates’ name.
Yes, Skenes will likely do the same tonight when he starts the All Star game for the National League. But while Skenes’ second straight All Star start should be celebrated immensely for the accomplishment that it is, the hat he wears will serve as a dark cloud over that achievement.
The conversation will morph into the shame that it is that the Pirates have surrounded their generational ace with such a tire fire around it.
National media will rightfully scold what this organization has done during Skenes’ tenure here so far, and baseball’s economic landscape will take every opportunity possible to remind the Pirates of their low odds of keeping him.
Mock trades and baseball rumors for a Skenes trade are already happening in year two. It’s only going to get worse.
Long story short, the conversation around Skenes coming out of the mid-summer break will be demoralizing for us here in Pittsburgh, but it will be accurate. What the Pirates have done to supplement Skenes has been nothing short of embarrassing, and management for this team deserves to hear it.
Cruz won’t be privy to that same kind of national sympathy. No one in the national media will be trying to pry Cruz out of Pittsburgh. No one will count down the days until he is a free agent and speculate where he could end up before that Doomsday clock strikes midnight.
Whether that change in approach is fair to Cruz or not, that’s just the simple fact. But one thing is for certain. We all will talk about how much we hope to see him back at the Derby next year.
Cruz is made for moments like this. He obviously has the skill to be a routine fixture of this event, and the advanced numbers to back it up. But he also has the perfect personality for the Derby as well. You could see him laughing and smiling often throughout the night, and he has just the right amount of flash that allows him to enjoy an event like this, and also want to win.
And for as much turmoil as this organization has been through this season, baseball fans clamoring to see someone dawning a Pirates jersey back at that contest next year is something Pittsburgh fans can rejoice in.
Fifth Avenue Sports 
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