A switch-hitting catcher successful the Derby. A younger slugger crushing a 513-foot house run (and lots of extra towering blasts). A tiebreaker decided by lower than an inch. The 2025 House Run Derby had all of it.
When it was all stated and carried out, Seattle’s Cal Raleigh got here out victorious in one of the crucial thrilling House Run Derby occasions we’ve had. Right here’s a glance again at a number of the enjoyable info and finest moments from the ‘25 Derby in Atlanta.
In one other storybook second in a storybook season, Raleigh grew to become the primary catcher to win the House Run Derby and the primary switch-hitter to outright win the competition (switch-hitting Ruben Sierra tied with Eric Davis in 1989).
Much more outstanding was the truth that Raleigh solely superior out of the primary spherical by the slimmest of margins. With 17 house runs, Raleigh was tied with Brent Rooker for the ultimate spot within the subsequent spherical, with the tiebreaker going to the participant with the longest house run distance. These distances? 470.62 ft for Raleigh … and 470.54 ft for Rooker. The distinction was lower than an inch.
Within the first spherical, the switch-hitting Raleigh additionally grew to become the second participant to bat from each side of the plate within the Derby, becoming a member of fellow catcher Adley Rutschman, who did it in 2023 in Seattle. Raleigh hit eight house runs as a left-hander earlier than his timeout, seven homers as a righty after which one other two from the left aspect within the bonus spherical.
Raleigh hit a complete of 54 house runs within the Derby — 17 within the first spherical, 19 within the semifinals to defeat Oneil Cruz (13) and 18 within the closing to beat Junior Caminero (15). Coincidentally, 54 house runs is identical quantity Raleigh has to hit this yr to equal Mickey Mantle’s file for essentially the most homers by a switch-hitter in a single season.
The largest house run of the Derby got here from — who else? — Oneil Cruz. The Pirates middle fielder crushed a 513-foot house run within the first spherical, which is tied with Aaron Decide for the longest Derby house run outdoors of Coors Subject below Statcast monitoring, which fits again to 2016 for House Run Derbies. Decide hit one 513 ft within the 2017 House Run Derby at Marlins Park. Cruz and Decide are the one gamers to hit 500-footers in a non-Coors Derby (Decide hit 4 in 2017).
Even should you embody the 2021 House Run Derby at Coors, the place balls journey a lot farther within the excessive altitude, Cruz’s 513-footer continues to be one of many 5 longest within the decade of Statcast-tracked Derbies. The one longer homers (all in 2021): 520 ft by Juan Soto, 518 ft by Trevor Story and 514 ft by Pete Alonso. Then got here Cruz, Decide and Shohei Ohtani (at Coors), all tied for fourth at 513.
Cruz additionally added a 498-foot house run within the semifinals, the sixth-longest Derby homer outdoors of Coors after his and Decide’s 500-footers, in addition to a 492-foot house run. Cruz, Decide and Giancarlo Stanton are the one gamers with a number of 490-foot homers in non-Coors Derbies.
All instructed, Cruz hit one house run 500-plus ft, three house runs 490-plus ft, 9 house runs 475-plus ft and 18 house runs 450-plus ft. These are some outstanding benchmarks for a single House Run Derby.
Cruz’s 498-foot homer additionally had an exit velocity of 119 mph — tied for the fourth-hardest house run hit in any Derby since 2016. Stanton and Decide had accounted for the entire earlier six Derby homers hit 119 mph or tougher.
Earlier than finally falling to Raleigh within the finals, Caminero made good on his promise to “placed on a present” when he was introduced as a Derby participant for the primary time. The Rays third baseman tied Cruz for the best whole of the primary spherical with 21, then dispatched Byron Buxton within the semifinals by hitting eight house runs in lower than a minute.
Caminero, whose 78.0 mph common bat velocity ranks second in MLB to solely Cruz, confirmed off his pull energy in spectacular style Monday. All 44 of his house runs had been to left, left-center or middle subject. A participant whose longest profession homer measures 429 ft routinely beat that mark within the Derby, bashing 28 homers at that distance or longer. Caminero maxed out at 475 ft on a homer within the first spherical, including lengthy balls of 474, 470 and 469 ft throughout his huge evening.
He additionally displayed some elite exit velocity: Caminero’s first bonus-round homer in the course of the first spherical, a 446-foot shot, was hit at 117 mph. Other than Cruz, no different Derby contestant hit a homer at an exit velocity above 112 mph. In his profession, Caminero’s two hardest-hit balls are tied at 116.5 mph.
Sadly for Caminero, the Rays standout wasn’t capable of win the Derby as a late birthday current after turning 22 on July 5. Had he crushed Raleigh, he would have been the youngest participant to win the Derby — an honor at the moment held by Juan Gonzalez in 1993 (23 years, 265 days previous).
A complete lot of lengthy balls
James Wooden’s second house run of the evening, a 486-footer, was briefly the longest non-Coors Derby homer hit since 2019, when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led the pack with a 488-foot house run at Progressive Subject. (That was, after all, till Cruz had his say.) Simply three different gamers have hit house runs of at the very least 486 ft in a non-Coors Derby: Aaron Decide, Miguel Sano and Giancarlo Stanton. Fairly good firm.
Though he placed on a very good present for his hometown crowd, Matt Olson ran the Braves as much as 15 fruitless House Run Derby appearances, essentially the most for any membership with out a Derby champ within the occasion’s historical past.
210 house runs had been hit on the evening, the fewest in a Derby since 2017, but it surely was very a lot a case of high quality over amount — the common distance on stated homers was 432 ft, the best of any non-Coors House Run Derby since 2017.
