O neil Cruz certainly wowed the crowd at Atlanta’s Truist Park and the baseball world on Monday at the 2025 T-Mobile Home Run Derby. He was the sixth Pirate to participate in the derby, joining Bobby Bonilla (1990), Barry Bonds (1992), Andrew McCutchen (2012), Pedro Alvarez (2013), and Josh Bell (2019).

Oneil Cruz put on a show, a home run robbery that both was and wasn't, Cal Raleigh goes splash and more from Monday's 2025 Home Run Derby.

Raleigh will become the second-ever player to switch hit in the Derby ( Adley Rutschman in 2023, lost 2nd round), plus no catcher has ever won the derby. This is year 39 of the event, so odds are against Raleigh despite him being the favorite.

Ahead of his scheduled start in the 2025 MLB All-Star Game, Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes arrived to the festivities in style.

In a great many ways, Cruz is a baseball anomaly. He, too, has predecessors, though, including one whose legacy is stamped quite literally on Cruz's identity: former Yankees and Reds outfielder Paul O'Neill.

Pittsburgh Pirates star Oneil Cruz had a big night on Monday at the MLB Home Run Derby. Cruz blasted several homers, and came close to winning the event. Cruz used an unusual bat in the derby, with the iconic video game figure Donkey Kong on it.

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