Home Run Derby 2025 field: Oneil Cruz, Byron Buxton latest players confirmed to compete

Yahoo

5 days ago

The 2025 MLB Home Run Derby will take place on July 14, and the eight-player field is starting to come into view.
Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. was the first to commit to the event, to be held at his home park of Truist Field in Atlanta, and he'll be joined by a field of seven of MLB's top power hitters in the crowd-pleasing event. Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Oneil Cruz was the latest slugger to join that field on Tuesday, leaving three open spots.
Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernández is the reigning Derby champion after beating Kansas City Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. in the 2024 final. He does not plan to defend his title this year.
Here's every slugger who has been announced to be competing in this year's event.
Cruz announced Tuesday that he will take part in the event. The 26-year-old outfielder has the second-lowest home run total of any participant thus far, but might have the best skill set for the event. Cruz is a Statcast darling, ranking in the 100th percentile in bat speed, average exit velocity, barrel rate and hard-hit percentage. He already owns the record for hardest-hit ball on record with his 122.9 mph home run in May.
Buxton announced on Instagram that he will enter the field. The 31-year-old Minnesota Twins outfielder has already surpassed his home run totals from the past two seasons and is on pace for a career high. After he takes part in the Derby, he will represent the American League in his second All-Star Game.
'Going back home to do something like this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing," the Georgia-born Buxton said. "I know I'm not going to play 30 more years for it to get back to Atlanta, so it's that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that — I talked about it with some close people, guys on the team, friends, family, and everybody got excited. … They didn't want me to pass up the opportunity.'
The 6-foot-7 Washington Nationals slugger is having a breakout season, having eclipsed the 20-home-run mark by the end of June. Wood, 22, was a part of the Juan Soto trade that brought a package of young talent to the Nationals from the San Diego Padres.
Wood has been such an offensive threat this season that on June 29, the Los Angeles Angels intentionally walked him four times. The last player to receive such an honor from an opponent was Barry Bonds in 2004.
MLB's home run leader is a Seattle Mariners catcher nicknamed "The Big Dumper," and he's on pace to blow away every personal best and maybe even challenge the AL home run record if he keeps this up. It's a beautiful sport.
With two straight 30-homer seasons and Platinum Glove-winning defense behind the plate, Raleigh was one of the most underrated players in baseball entering this season. By now, even casual baseball fans should know his name, as he's making his case to be considered one of baseball's elite players, if he isn't already there.
The Atlanta crowd will have a hometown hero in Acuña, who will likely have the fewest home runs of any player in the Derby field due to the fact that he started his season two months late after returning from a torn ACL, which made him miss much of 2024.
Acuña has been on a tear since his return, though, and has 40-homer power when healthy. He became the fifth player in MLB history to post 40 homers and 40 stolen bases in a single season before winning MVP in 2023, and the Derby will be a prime chance for him to show a national audience that he's still one of MLB's brightest stars.
The Home Run Derby field rarely lines up with the homer leaderboard at the All-Star break, and 2025 will be no exception. As talented as the field is, some of MLB's other top players have turned down the event:
Aaron Judge: The reigning AL MVP and three-time home run champion won the event in his rookie year in 2017 and hasn't competed since, saying he won't do it again until the All-Star Game returns to Yankee Stadium. He reiterated that stance earlier this month.
Shohei Ohtani: MLB's biggest international star, who competed in the Derby in 2021, said he didn't think it was "feasible" for him to compete due to the format of the Derby. He is also currently stretching himself out as a starting pitcher again, so the event might be too much to add to his plate.
Pete Crow-Armstrong: Arguably the breakout star of the 2025 season, PCA has dazzled with his two-way impact, but he told reporters that he has "a different kind of power" than what succeeds in the Derby. Consider him out.
Elly De La Cruz: The Cincinnati Reds' star is among the elite of the elite when it comes to exit velocity, but he has so far declined to take part in the Derby, citing potential fatigue the next week when regular-season play resumes.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: The Toronto Blue Jays' $500 million man, who won the event in 2023 and hit the most homers ever in the event in 2019 (91), is a firm no.
Teoscar Hernández: The reigning champ will not defend his title, reportedly citing the toll of the competition and the fact that he has already missed time due to injury this year.
Kyle Schwarber: The Philadelphia Phillies' outfielder will take part in the All-Star Game but will not join the Derby crowd. 'Maybe see what happens next year," said Schwarber, who is third in the NL with 27 home runs.
Pete Alonso: The 30-year-old New York Mets first baseman declined an invite this year, citing the need for rest. The slugger has been a Home Run Derby participant every season it has been held since his rookie year. He's a two-time winner of the event and currently has 20 homers on the season.
After a decade of a pure one-on-one tournament format with timed rounds, MLB tweaked the format in 2024.
Instead of four matchups in the first round, last year all eight hitters competed to reach the top four, with a limit of 40 pitches across three minutes plus three bonus outs (in which they keep hitting until they fail to hit a homer three times). The hitters were then seeded for the semifinal and final rounds, the latter of which featured two minutes and 27 pitches.
It was a complicated format, and it's unclear if MLB will use the same rules this year.
The 2025 Home Run Derby will take place in Atlanta at 8 p.m. ET on Monday, July 14, the day after the 2025 MLB Draft and the day before the 2025 MLB All-Star Game. As usual, the event will be televised on ESPN.