Pirates’ Oneil Cruz will bring his record-breaking power to the Home Run Derby

KANSAS CITY Mo AP Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz known more for delivering hard-hit homers than producing them in quantity was added Tuesday to next week s Home Run Derby in Atlanta He is the fifth sportsman named as a participant in Monday s event at Truist Park which hosts the All-Star Match a night later Also competing are Atlanta s Ronald Acu a Jr Minnesota s Byron Buxton Seattle s Cal Raleigh and Washington s James Wood I m really really happy just because that s what I do Cruz explained ahead of Tuesday night s challenge at Kansas City I like to hit balls far I think I m going to enjoy it a lot Cruz had homers entering Tuesday He hit a career-best last season They ve been trying to get me in the Home Run Derby for the last couple years but last year I was coming back from an ankle injury and was not feeling that good at that time Cruz reported But I m in a good spot right now When the -foot- Cruz hits a homer he often hits it hard On May against visiting Milwaukee he hit a ball measured at mph into the Allegheny River the highest exit velocity on a home run since Statcast began tracking in Oh man I can t wait to see him hit down there Pirates manager Don Kelly announced He s going to make Atlanta look small after seeing him hit batting practice down there last year and the year before Just really excited for him and the opportunity he s got to go be a part of that Cruz also proved off his arm Sunday with a mph throw to nail Seattle s J P Crawford at the plate That was the second-hardest thrown ball to produce an outfield assist recorded by Statcast AP MLB https apnews com hub MLB Source