2025 House Run Derby: Oneil Cruz stuns, Cal Raleigh triumphs with household by his facet

ATLANTA — A viral clip made the rounds earlier this month of Cal Raleigh as a baby dreaming of at some point profitable the House Run Derby. 

On Monday evening in Atlanta, he made {that a} actuality. 

Along with his father, Todd, throwing to him and his little brother, Todd Jr., catching, Raleigh turned the primary catcher ever to win Main League Baseball’s House Run Derby when he bested Junior Caminero — who practically turned the youngest participant to win the occasion — 18-15 within the finals.

(Photograph by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photographs by way of Getty Pictures)

Raleigh, who leads the majors with 38 dwelling runs on the break and is the primary Mariners participant to win the House Run Derby since Ken Griffey Jr. in 1999, completed the occasion with 54 dwelling runs. 

“It’s sort of surreal,” Raleigh mentioned afterward whereas donning an extravagant House Run Derby chain round his neck. “You don’t assume youre going to be invited, and you then get invited, and the truth that you win it with your loved ones, tremendous particular. What an evening.” 

Listed below are 4 extra takeaways from the occasion: 

Oneil, oh my 

(Photograph by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Pictures)

Final yr, the longest dwelling run of the derby was hit 473 ft by Marcell Ozuna. The primary hitter of the evening Monday cleared that quantity by 13 ft, when James Wooden hit a ball 486 ft.

Then, Oneil Cruz bested them each. 

Cruz hit 5 homers even farther than Wooden, together with a 513-foot blast that went 40 ft farther than the longest dwelling run from final yr’s derby. That monster dwelling run was additionally the longest blast within the Derby since Juan Soto despatched a ball 520 ft in 2021 at Coors Area, the place baseballs are routinely despatched into orbit.

That sort of carry shouldn’t be fairly as widespread at Truist Park. The homer from Cruz was the longest ever hit on the venue. Vladimir Guerrero Jr watched it and pointed to the air in awe. Ronald Acuna Jr  put his palms on his head and regarded round in disbelief. 

Cruz, who earlier this yr recorded the hardest-hit dwelling run of the Statcast period (since 2015) with a 122.9 mph missile off the bat, hit 9 of the ten farthest dwelling runs within the Derby. 

Cruz and Wooden, who have been each competing within the occasion for the primary time, have been the one gamers within the competitors who had hit a number of balls a minimum of 450 ft this season. 

A decimal choice 

Raleigh virtually didn’t make it out of the primary spherical. 

The switch-hitter switched sides in the midst of the opening spherical, beginning out as a lefty, getting on a roll as a righty after a timeout, then switching again to the left facet and ending with 17 dwelling runs, which tied him with Brent Rooker. 

It additionally led to some confusion.

(Photograph by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Pictures)

Cruz (21 homers), Junior Caminero (21) and Byron Buxton (20) have been the clear prime three finishers. The tiebreaker to resolve the fourth spot between Raleigh and Rooker would come all the way down to dwelling run distance. 

However every of their longest homers have been charted at 471 ft. 

When Rooker noticed that, he went down within the tunnel to maneuver round and get unfastened in case he wanted to hit once more. Within the last two rounds, in any case, ties are determined by a swing-off. 

However when Rooker went again up the steps to the sphere, Raleigh delivered the information that he was shifting on by inches, advancing by mere decimal factors. 

“Simply loopy,” Raleigh mentioned. “An inch off and I’m not even within the last 4, which is wonderful. I assume I obtained fortunate there. One further biscuit.” 

Raleigh’s farthest dwelling run was tracked at 470.61 ft, whereas Rooker’s went 470.53. 

“Perhaps if they’ve that to the decimal level, they need to show that in the course of the Derby and never wait till everybody’s accomplished to carry out that data,” Rooker mentioned. “That may be useful.”

It was not the one controversy of the spherical. Rooker mentioned he was additionally shorted two of the 40 baseballs that have been presupposed to be allotted. 

“They instructed me earlier than I went up there that I might take two pitches, however we didn’t know after they instructed me that there have been solely 40 balls already within the crate,” Rooker defined. “So I took two pitches that didn’t depend, however once I went to do the spherical, there have been solely 38 remaining.”

Regardless of the sooner exit than he had hoped, Rooker nonetheless had a good time. 

“Really a blast,” Rooker mentioned. “What a particular alternative and particular expertise.” 

Hometown star comes up simply brief in opening spherical 

(Photograph by Jamie Squire/Getty Pictures)

Initially, Ronald Acuña Jr. was going to characterize the hometown Braves. A again damage compelled a change of plans, and Matt Olson stuffed in as Acuña’s alternative. 

Olson completed only a couple homers in need of Raleigh and Rooker with 15 within the first spherical, selecting up steam late and making it shut as 41,912 followers in attendance — lots of them Braves followers — cheered him on. 

He figured there can be lots of Braves followers, however he was stunned by the sound as he made his late push. He mentioned it felt extra like a Friday evening dwelling recreation. 

“The response of the intros and the assist in the course of the spherical was superior, in all probability the loudest I heard the place once I sort of obtained going there a bit of bit,” Olson mentioned. “Ton of enjoyable, want I might’ve superior however obtained off to a foul begin, needed to take the timeout a bit of too early. Dangerous technique. Nevertheless it was a blast.” 

‘A dream come true’

(Photograph by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photographs by way of Getty Pictures)

From the time Raleigh was in diapers, his father, Todd, was educating him how one can switch-hit.

Raleigh would swing a small bat, and Todd, who coached at Western Kentucky College and later the College of Tennessee, would change his son’s palms, then strive it once more. 

“I didn’t need both of my boys to ever say, ‘Am I right-handed or left-handed?’” Todd mentioned. “I needed it to be from day one.'”

Quick-forward to Monday evening, and Raleigh showcased his ambidextrous expertise on the House Run Derby stage whereas hitting baseballs from his dad like he did when he was little. 

“It goes all the way in which again to him coming dwelling and forcing him to throw me a ball and hit it within the yard or in the home, which we in all probability shouldn’t be doing,” Raleigh mentioned. “And it goes again to his teaching days when he was teaching in school. Straight after faculty, it was straight to the sphere, I’d hop in with the blokes, hang around, do some drills generally, hit within the cage, simply be a part of it.”

That have helped form Raleigh, who’s now one of many prime energy threats in MLB. He’s already simply 10 dwelling runs shy of tying the document for essentially the most dwelling runs in a season by a main catcher. 

Within the House Run Derby, Raleigh launched 17 dwelling runs in spherical one whereas switching sides of the plate. Within the semifinals, he determined to hit solely from the left facet and launched 19 homers to defeat Cruz. Within the finals, he obtained some assist from one of many children on the sphere, who robbed a possible Caminero homer. 

“I paid him off,” Raleigh joked. “I didn’t see it, I heard them speak about it.” 

Fortunately, it wouldn’t have mattered if that swing from Caminero counted, as Raleigh gained the spherical by three homers. 

Raleigh’s father described the House Run Derby expertise as “a dream come true” for him and each of his sons.

“I can’t say how fortunate and blessed I’m,” Todd mentioned. “This Derby was large after we heard about it, however after we concerned the household, the complexion of it modified.”

Rowan Kavner is an MLB author for FOX Sports activities. He beforehand lined the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved again to the West Coast in 2014. Observe him on X at @RowanKavner.

Get extra from the Main League Baseball Observe your favorites to get details about video games, information and extra