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Everything for the Home Run Derby in Truist Park is set for Atlanta tonight, where eight of Major League Baseball’s finest hitters will launch some home runs and one will take home the title of Home Run Derby Champion. Teoscar Hernandez won last year’s event, but in 2025, every single contestant in this iteration is brand new, emphasizing the youth movement happening in baseball.
Let’s take a deeper look at the 2025 Home Run Derby, the contestants and our pick of who will win.
The Home Run Derby is one of the tentpole events on the MLB calendar and certainly one of the highlights of the MLB All-Star Break. The event’s format consists of three rounds, during which all eight players have three minutes or 40 pitches (whichever comes first) to hit as many home runs as possible within the allotted time or the maximum number of pitches. During this time, there’s also a bonus period that will run until a player records three outs. However, a home run of 425 feet or more will extend that bonus time until the player records a fourth out. The top four home run hitters will move to the second round.
The top home run hitter will face the fourth-best hitter, and the remaining two will face each other in a head-to-head competition. Both matchups will consist of two minutes or 27 pitches. The two winners will face off against each other in the finals, where they will have the same two minutes or 27 pitches to hit as many home runs as possible.
This year’s iteration of the Home Run Derby features eight all-new contestants and no holdovers from last season. This year’s participants include:
In terms of home run production, Cal Raleigh currently leads all MLB players in home runs with 38. James Wood and Junior Caminero are in the top ten with 24 and 23, respectively. Ronald Acuna has missed a large chunk of this season and was originally slated to be in the Home Run Derby. Still, Acuna was replaced with fellow Brave Matt Olson to keep up the Atlanta representation.
We cannot forget Jazz Chisholm Jr., who will bring a strong bat and energy to the derby. Brent Rooker has been a rather unheralded slugger despite his second All-Star Game appearance, and he’s poised to put up his third-straight 30-homer season with 20 already on the ledger. Byron Buxton has stayed healthy so far this season and is putting up massive numbers for the Twins, necessitating his inclusion in the field.
One of the favorites in the Home Run Derby is Oneil Cruz of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Nobody hits a baseball harder and more consistently than Cruz has throughout his career and to say that people will need to pay attention when he’s up to hit is an understatement. Cruz has the hardest-hit ball ever recorded in the Statcast era at a whopping 122.9 mph, so for safety’s sake, Cruz will require every pair of eyes glued to him.
Every player participating is more than capable of winning the Home Run Derby, but the hottest home run hitter right now is Cal Raleigh. Nicknamed “Big Dumper”, Raleigh has talked about wanting to switch-hit during the derby, but hitting lefty would be a better fit at Truist Park as it’s a ballpark that favors left-handed sluggers. Raleigh will also get to share that moment with his family, as his father, Todd, will be Cal’s pitcher, and his 15-year-old younger brother, Todd Jr., will be the catcher in the derby.
As far as a winner goes, it’s hard not to choose the current home-run leader in baseball, Cal Raleigh. He’s the favorite to win the 2025 MLB Home Run Derby, with Oneil Cruz a close second. Raleigh has been a great story around baseball this season, and he has all the momentum behind him to keep this amazing run going as an MVP candidate in the American League.
Kevin has been writing about sports since 2015 with a primary focus on fantasy football. His work has been featured on outlets like Matthew Berry's Fantasy Life, FantasyPros, Sports Illustrated, RotoBaller, Fantasy Alarm, and numerous other fantasy websites. As a native New Yorker now living in the Midwest, Kevin counts the Green Bay Packers, New York Yankees and Syracuse Orange as his favorite teams.