Oneil Cruz hits 122.9 mph home run, hardest-hit ball since Statcast started tracking in 2015

By Canadian Press on May 25, 2025.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh’s Oneil Cruz had the hardest-hit ball since Statcast started tracking in 2015, a home run off Milwaukee’s Logan Henderson on Sunday that left the bat at 122.9 mph and splashed into the Allegheny River.

Cruz’s leadoff drive to right in the third inning on a 92.2 mph fastball traveled 432 feet and cut the Pirates’ deficit to 3-1.

Cruz had the previous hardest-hit ball, a 122.4 mph single on Aug. 24, 2022. Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton had the prior hardest-hit home run at 121.8 mph, a drive off Gio Gonzalez at Washington on Aug. 9, 2017.

Cruz has hit six of the 83 home runs hit into the river since PNC Park opened in 2001. He leads the Pirates with 11 homers this season, including three in his past three games.

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The Associated Press