Athletics slugger Brent Rooker became the latest entrant in the forthcoming Home Run Derby on Thursday. Just one spot remains vacant in the eight-player field.
Rooker, 30, has hit .270/.346/.489 (130 OPS+) with 19 home runs in his first 94 games this season. He’s on pace to record his third consecutive 30-plus homer season, having already established himself as one of just 12 players with at least 30 homers in each of the last two campaigns.
Rooker sits in the 79th percentile in average exit velocity, as well as in the 75th percentile in hard-hit percentage. His maximum exit velocity this season is 112.4 mph.
Junior a fresh face to field
Tampa Bays Rays young slugger Junior Caminero is the latest to confirm his participation in the upcoming 2025 Home Run Derby. MLB announced the news on Wednesday, which means just two spots remain in the eight-player Derby field.
Caminero, who just turned 22 mere days ago, leads all major-league third baseman with 21 home runs this season. He’s slashing .252/.294/.496 in this, his second MLB season, and he’s not far removed from a 2023 campaign in which he hit 31 homers in 117 games across two minor-league levels.
Not surprisingly, Caminero hits the ball hard, as his max exit velocity of 116.5 mph is in 97th percentile among big-league hitters in 2025. And almost no one boasts better bat speed. Caminero’s average barrel speed of 78.0 mph is second only to that of his fellow Derby combatant Oneil Cruz.
Incoming Cruz missiles
Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Oneil Cruz, one of the hardest hitters in baseball, will take his hacks in this year’s Home Run Derby, MLB announced Tuesday.
Cruz, 26, recorded the hardest hit ball of the Statcast era (since 2015) back on May 25. The 122.9 mph missile cleared the right field bleachers at PNC Park and landed in the Allegheny River for a home run. Cruz also has the second hardest hit ball of the Statcast era. That was a 122.4 mph single back in 2022.
This season Cruz is hitting .203/.315/.402 with 15 home runs and a league-leading 28 stolen bases.
Buxton going home for Derby
Minnesota Twins star Byron Buxton, a Georgia native, will partake in the 2025 Home Run Derby. Major League Baseball made the announcement on Monday, a week before the Derby is slated to be held at Truist Park, the regular-season home of the Atlanta Braves.
Buxton, 31, is one of the most exciting players in the sport, albeit also one of its most oft-injured. In 73 games to date, he’s hit .270/.334/.544 (138 OPS+) with 20 home runs and 16 stolen bases. Fifteen of his home runs have been classified as “no doubters” by Baseball Savant’s methodology.
Buxton’s contributions have been worth more than 3 estimated Wins Above Replacement, according to Baseball Reference’s calculations.
With Buxton, James Wood, Cal Raleigh, and Ronald Acuña Jr., we now know four of the eight participants in this year’s Derby.
Wood to bring lumber
Emerging Nationals superstar James Wood has joined the field for the 2025 Home Run Derby, Major League Baseball announced on Thursday. Wood just hit his one-year anniversary in the league, as he debuted July 1, 2024, and in just 165 career games, he’s made a monstrous impact.
The 6-foot-7, lefty-swinging 22 year old is hitting .283/.387/.547 (164 OPS+) with 22 home runs in 322 at-bats this season. He has prodigious power, as 12 of his 22 home runs are slotted in the “no doubters” category, per Baseball Savant.
Not that it matters much in a Home Run Derby, but Wood has hit one home run in his career in Truist Park in Atlanta, where the Derby is hosted this season. It was an opposite-field shot earlier this season.
HR leader Raleigh is in
Major League Baseball’s current home run leader, Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, will participate in the 2025 Home Run Derby, the league announced on June 27.
“I’m excited to represent the Mariners and our fanbase at the [Home Run] Derby,” said the switch-hitting Raleigh, who has already belted 32 home runs this season. “It will be extra special for me getting to do it in Atlanta, where I spent a lot of time playing baseball as a kid.”
Batting Around: Will Cal Raleigh lead MLB in home runs this season or will Mariners catcher slow down?
Mike Axisa
The 28-year-old Raleigh has hit several history-making home runs during the 2025 season, including becoming the first catcher to reach 30 homers before the All-Star Break and also the first switch-hitter to do so.
Raleigh is two homers away from matching his single-season career high (34) before the All-Star Game. He’s also, perhaps obviously, on pace to shatter the single-season record for most home runs hit by a catcher; that mark currently belongs to Kansas City Royals backstop Salvador Perez, who homered 48 times in 2021.
Acuña Jr. feeling right at home
Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. was the first player to declare for the Derby, announcing his decision shortly before taking the field against the New York Mets.
“I’m Ronald Acuña Jr. because of them,” the four-time All-Star said through an interpreter on ESPN of his hometown fans.
Acuña, 27, has participated in two previous Derbies: one in 2019, the other in 2022. He was eliminated by New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso on both occasions. Acuña had previously indicated that he would take part again this summer if the league asked him.
How Braves ‘unicorn’ Ronald Acuña Jr. is picking up right where he left off (again), plus more MLB notes
Julian McWilliams
Acuña has played excellently since returning from the torn ACL that prematurely ended his 2024 campaign. In 29 games to date, he’s hit .385/.496/.692 (227 OPS+) with nine home runs, 16 runs batted in, and four stolen bases (on four attempts). His contributions have already been worth an estimated 2 Wins Above Replacement, according to Baseball Reference’s calculations.
Although Acuña doesn’t lead the Braves in home runs — he’s tied with Sean Murphy for fourth, behind Matt Olson, Austin Riley, and Marcell Ozuna — he is a logical choice to represent the home market. If nothing else, he’s the biggest star on the roster: a former Most Valuable Player Award winner and four-time All-Star who also counts a Rookie of the Year Award and three Silver Slugger Awards among his earned hardware.
This news was originally published on this post .
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