The field is set for the 2025 T-Mobile Home Run Derby, which will take place Monday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Truist Park in Atlanta.
Here's a breakdown of the eight sluggers who are set to square off in this year's version of the annual power-hitting competition.
Cal Raleigh, Mariners
Current HR total: 38
Longest HR of 2025: 440 feet, June 22 at Cubs and July 4 vs. Pirates
Hardest-hit HR of 2025: 114.7 mph, July 4 vs. Pirates
Asked earlier this season about participating in the Derby, Raleigh said he “would do that in a heartbeat” if given the chance. Thanks to a historic home run pace that has him battling Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani for the MLB lead, the Mariners' star catcher has certainly earned that opportunity. He could be the second Mariner to win the Derby, with Ken Griffey Jr. doing so three times (in 1994, '98 and '99).
Raleigh, who grew up 150 miles from Atlanta in North Carolina, will be making a homecoming of sorts during 2025’s All-Star festivities. He also could be just the second player to switch-hit during the Derby after Adley Rutschman did so in 2023. Even if he sticks to one side, Raleigh’s prodigious power should make him a top contender in his first Home Run Derby. More >
James Wood, Nationals
Current HR total: 24
Longest HR of 2025: 451 feet, June 13 vs. Marlins and June 21 at Dodgers
Hardest-hit HR of 2025: 116.3 mph, April 23 vs. Orioles
Quite a few people (Wood's manager and teammates among them) were clamoring for this, and rightly so -- everyone's on notice when this guy is at the plate. A 22-year-old potential NL MVP candidate in his first full MLB season, teams are already opting out of facing Wood whenever possible (he was recently issued four intentional walks in a game, a treatment no one had received since Barry Bonds.)
Although Wood, who stands at 6-foot-7 and hits the ball as hard as anyone, looks for all the world like the platonic ideal of a Derby participant, he's a bit of an atypical slugger, with an up-the-middle/opposite-field approach that generates far more screaming line drives than majestic fly balls. That profile has yielded mixed results in past Derbies, making him an especially interesting addition to the field.
Wood will be the third player to represent the Nationals in the Derby since they moved to Washington in 2005, and the bar has been set quite high for him -- Bryce Harper and Juan Soto made two trips apiece and each managed to bring home a trophy (Harper in 2018, Soto in 2022). More >
Byron Buxton, Twins
Current HR total: 21
Longest HR of 2025: 479 feet, June 11 vs. Rangers
Hardest-hit HR of 2025: 112.5 mph, April 13 vs. Tigers
All-Star Week in Atlanta was already going to be special for Buxton, even before he was added to the Home Run Derby lineup. The Twins star outfielder found out on July 6 – one day before he made his Derby entry official – that he had been selected for the All-Star team for the second time in his career. It will be a return to where it all started for Buxton, who grew up in Baxley, Ga., about 190 miles southeast of Atlanta.
Injuries have derailed previous seasons in which Buxton could have made it to the Midsummer Classic, but he has been mostly healthy in 2025, enabling him to show off the immense talent the former No. 2 overall Draft pick has always possessed.
Buxton, who hit for the cycle on Saturday, will be the eighth different Minnesota Twins player to compete in the Derby and the first since Miguel Sanó lost to Aaron Judge in the 2017 finals. Justin Morneau was in the contest in 2007 and won it in 2008, although his victory at Yankee Stadium was overshadowed by an all-time performance by the Rangers’ Josh Hamilton. More >
Oneil Cruz, Pirates
Current HR total: 16
Longest HR of 2025: 463 feet, April 23 at Angels
Hardest-hit HR of 2025: 122.9 mph, May 25 vs. Brewers
Get ready for some especially loud home runs. All of the force that Cruz generates with his bat -- nobody swings harder than him -- has created some record-setting batted balls. The best example occurred on May 25, when Cruz bashed a pitch from the Brewers’ Logan Henderson into the Allegheny River. The ball left Cruz’s bat at an eye-popping 122.9 mph, making it the hardest-hit batted ball, base hit and home run of the Statcast Era (since 2015).
The 6-foot-7 Cruz unsurprisingly leads all qualified players in average exit velocity this season and has accounted for six of the 10 batted balls with an exit velocity of at least 120 mph since his 2021 debut season. He will be the seventh Pirate to enter a Home Run Derby and the first since Josh Bell in 2019. More >
Junior Caminero, Rays
Current HR total: 23
Longest HR of 2025: 425 feet, June 30 vs. Athletics
Hardest-hit HR of 2025: 110.6 mph, April 29 vs. Royals
One of the youngest players in the Majors, the 22-year-old Caminero was named to his first All-Star team as an injury replacement for Boston’s Alex Bregman on July 8. The following day, Caminero announced he'd be participating in the Home Run Derby and later found out he'd be starting the Midsummer Classic at the hot corner for the AL after Cleveland's José Ramírez opted out of the game.
Expectations were high for Caminero coming into 2025, after he made a promising late-season cameo for the Rays last year and turned heads for Escogido in the Dominican Winter League, punctuating his stint with a tiebreaking homer (measured at 454 feet!) to dead center in the top of the ninth inning during Game 7 of the LIDOM championship series.
The third baseman, who generates power to all fields with his lightning-quick swing and 220-pound frame, started off slow this season, but he erupted for 13 home runs in 33 games from May 24 through the end of June. He's set to become the fourth player in Rays history to compete in the Derby -- joining Evan Longoria, Carlos Peña and Randy Arozarena -- and would be the youngest winner in the history of the contest if he can pull off the victory. That distinction currently belongs to Juan Gonzalez, who was 23 years and 265 days old when he took the crown in 1993. More >
Brent Rooker, Athletics
Current HR total: 20
Longest HR of 2025: 440 feet, May 22 vs. Angels
Hardest-hit HR of 2025: 110.0 mph, June 24 at Tigers
Rooker made the 2025 All-Star team as a reserve after being snubbed in 2024. You could argue that he also should have been included in the Home Run Derby in each of the past two years. He hit 16 home runs before the break in 2023 and had 21 at the break in ‘24. On pace for his third straight 30-homer campaign, Rooker said recently that being in the Home Run Derby “seems like a really fun time,” and he would definitely participate if asked. Now he will be the first A’s player in the Derby since Matt Olson in 2021.
Rooker would be the third player in club history to win the event, joining Mark McGwire (1992) and Yoenis Céspedes (2014-15). Céspedes and the Mariners’ Ken Griffey Jr. (1998-99) are the only players to win the Derby in consecutive seasons. More >
Jazz Chisholm Jr., Yankees
Current HR total: 17
Longest HR of 2025: 442 feet, March 29 vs. Brewers
Hardest-hit HR of 2025: 110.9 mph, July 9 vs. Mariners
Chisholm said in 2022 as a member of the Marlins that he would love to be a part of the Home Run Derby, but “I think people would rather see Aaron Judge swing than me. Imagine me hitting at a Home Run Derby and they see a 500-foot bomb. I'm 180 [pounds]."
No need to imagine any longer; Chisholm is in this year’s field. Although this will be his first time taking part in MLB’s Home Run Derby, he is no stranger to homer contests. Chisholm has been a fixture at the annual Don’t Blink Home Run Derby held in his native Bahamas.
Chisholm may not hit a 500-footer, but his 442-foot clout off of the Brewers’ Connor Thomas on March 29 was his longest dinger since 2021. He will try to become the fifth Yankee to win a Derby crown and the first since Judge did so during his 2017 rookie year. More >
Matt Olson, Braves
Current HR total: 17
Longest HR of 2025: 434 feet, April 4 vs. Marlins
Hardest-hit HR of 2025: 113.4 MPH, April 4 vs. Marlins
Olson replaces teammate Ronald Acuña Jr., who has been dealing with back tightness. Olson will participate in his second Home Run Derby. He hit 23 home runs in first round of the Derby at Coors Field in 2021 but did not advance to the second round. Olson led the Major Leagues with 54 home runs in 2023, but he did not compete in the event that year.
Olson has 134 home runs since joining the Braves in 2022, the fifth-most in the Majors during that span. The 31-year-old Olson has a .267/.368/.481 slash line and 17 home runs in 92 games for the Braves this season. Olson was born and raised in Atlanta and attended nearby Parkview High School in Liburn, Ga. More >