2025 MLB Home Run Derby results: Cal Raleigh beats Junior Caminero, first catcher to ever win

Raleigh joins Ken Griffey Jr. as the only Mariners to take home the title

The best home run hitter in baseball won the 2025 Home Run Derby. Monday night at Truist Park, Mariners backstop Cal Raleigh outlasted Rays slugger Junior Caminero to become the first catcher to ever win the Home Run Derby. He's also the first switch-hitter to win the Home Run Derby outright; Ruben Sierra was the co-winner with Eric Davis in 1989.

Raleigh joins Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. (1994, 1998, 1999) as the only Mariners to win the event. He entered the All-Star break with an MLB-leading 38 home runs, second most at the break behind Barry Bonds' 39 in 2001. Raleigh eliminated Pirates slugger Oneil Cruz in the semifinals. Caminero beat out Twins star Byron Buxton to reach the finals.

Here's how the Home Run Derby bracket shook out: 

2025 Home Run Derby bracket, results

First round

1. Oneil Cruz: 21
2. Junior Caminero: 21
3. Byron Buxton: 20
4. Cal Raleigh: 17
5. Brent Rooker: 17 (eliminated)
6. Matt Olson: 15 (eliminated)
7. James Wood: 16 (eliminated)
8. Jazz Chisholm Jr.: 3 (eliminated)

This is the second year of the current format, which gives players three minutes and 40 pitches to swing away in the first round. They also receive three bonus outs in which they can hit as many homers as possible before making three outs. Players can earn a fourth bonus out with a 425-foot homer in bonus time. The top four home run totals advanced to the semifinals.

Raleigh and Rooker tied with 17 homers. The tiebreaker is longest home run distance, and good gravy, it was close: 471.61 feet for Raleigh and 471.53 feet for Rooker, per the Statcast overlords. That extra 0.08 feet -- that is 0.96 inches! -- was the difference between Raleigh advancing and Rooker going home. That extra 0.96 inches paved the way for Raleigh's win.

If nothing else, the Raleigh vs. Rooker situation shows the only acceptable Home Run Derby tiebreaker is a three-swing swing-off. I was told there would be no math!

Semifinals

• No. 4 Cal Raleigh (19) over No. 1 Oneil Cruz (13)
• No. 2 Junior Caminero (8) over No. 3 Byron Buxton (7)

The four remaining players were seeded 1-4 based on their first-round home run totals, then they squared off head-to-head in a 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3 format. In the semifinals, players get two minutes and 27 pitches to hit as many homers as possible. The same bonus outs rules as the first round apply.

Finals

• Cal Raleigh (18) over Junior Caminero (15)

The final two players went head-to-head for the Home Run Derby crown. The time/pitch limits (two minutes and 27 pitches) are the same as the semifinals, and the same bonus outs rules are used throughout. Raleigh went first and hit his 18 homers. Caminero knew the number he had to beat, and fell short.

And here now are five takeaways from the 2025 Home Run Derby.

1. Cruz went 513 feet

At 122.9 mph, Oneil Cruz hit the hardest ball of the Statcast era (since 2015) earlier this season. He is the hard-contact king, and in the Home Run Derby, he launched a ball 513 feet! To the action footage:

Cruz also hit home runs 492 feet and 498 feet Monday. No other player cleared 486 feet. Cruz had the five longest and nine of the 10 longest homers of the Home Run Derby.

Cruz's 513-footer is the longest homer in the Home Run Derby since Aaron Judge hit one 513 feet in 2017. That is ignoring the 2021 Home Run Derby, which was held a mile up at Coors Field. There were several balls hit farther that year, including a 520-foot Juan Soto blast. At sea level though, Cruz's 513-foot shot is the farthest Home Run Derby homer in almost a decade.

Also, don't sleep on the 118 mph exit velocity. Hitting a batting practice pitch 118 mph is insane. Guys might -- might -- get to 110 mph during batting practice during the season. It's really tough to drive a soft-tossed pitch that hard. Not for Cruz though. 

2. Raleigh switched it up

Raleigh entered the All-Star break with 38 home runs, which would be an excellent full season total for a catcher and is simply preposterous for a first half total. This is an all-time great power season period. You don't need need the "for a catcher" qualifier.

Raleigh is of course a switch-hitter -- those 38 homers are the most ever for a switch-hitter before the All-Star break -- and he showed off his power from both sides of the plate Monday. He started the first round left-handed, then switched over to the right side after taking his timeout. Shades of Adley Rutschman in 2023:

Raleigh hit 10 homers left-handed and seven right-handed. Also, he got hit by a pitch right-handed! When's the last time you saw a hit-by-pitch in the Home Run Derby? It's OK: Raleigh's father, Todd, was pitching to him, and he was fine. It was a batting practice pitch, after all. Raleigh hit left-handed exclusively in the semifinals and finals.

3. A kid robbed a homer

I gotta say, being one of the kids who gets to run around the outfield catching fly ball during the Home Run Derby seems like one of the coolest things ever. One of them pulled a Denzel Clarke, and robbed Junior Caminero of a homer in the finals. Check it out:

Replays showed the ball would have cleared the wall, so MLB went ahead and counted the homer, which ultimately had no impact on the outcome. If I were that kid, I would brag about robbing a homer in the Home Run Derby the rest of my life.

4. Jazz had the worst round of the clock era

The Home Run Derby has undergone many format changes over the years, the most significant of which was the addition of a clock in 2016. Home run totals exploded in the clock era because there was no limit on the number of "outs" a hitter could make. It used to be 10 outs and you were done. With the clock, you keep hitting until the time runs out.

The clock was put in place in 2016 and Jazz Chisholm Jr. had the worst round of the clock era Monday. He hit only three home runs, even with the three bonus outs. The previous low was seven homers by Robinson Canó in 2016. Canó in 2016 and Chisholm this year are the only single-digit rounds of the clock era. The all-time record is 41 homers in a single round by Julio Rodríguez in 2023. Chisholm came, uh, just short of that.

5. The camerawork left something to be desired

I fully acknowledge it is not easy to broadcast an event like the Home Run Derby. You want to see the pitch, the flight of the ball off the bat, and where it lands. It's a lot to show the audience again and again with little downtime between pitches. It's a challenge, I get it. That said, this year's split screen was not great:

Television networks have been looking for the best way to show the Home Run Derby for decades. Give ESPN credit for trying new things. This year's split screen, though, ain't it. We saw the ball hit the bat, where it landed, and not enough in between. Maybe next year will be better.

[Jul 14, 2025 at 10:52 pm ET · Kate Feldman]

Cal Raleigh wins!

[Jul 14, 2025 at 10:49 pm ET · Mike Axisa]

Here is the home run robbery:

[Jul 14, 2025 at 10:45 pm ET · Kate Feldman]

Replay in the Home Run Derby because a kid robbed a homer is incredible

[Jul 14, 2025 at 10:43 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

Caminero takes a timeout with seven homers and 1:11 left. He's pacing toward this getting awesome. 

[Jul 14, 2025 at 10:43 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

reminder that the final round is 2:00. This is a tall order for Caminero but he's been great so far

[Jul 14, 2025 at 10:39 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

Former WWE champion Cody Rhodes coming out to his entrance music and playing hype man for the crowd 

[Jul 14, 2025 at 10:37 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

Cal Raleigh finishes the final round with 18

Junior Caminero will need another great round to win this one. 

[Jul 14, 2025 at 10:36 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

No. 17 as Fuel by Metallica, the greatest band in history, plays

[Jul 14, 2025 at 10:35 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

out No. 2 was a monster moon shot, just foul

[Jul 14, 2025 at 10:35 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

16

[Jul 14, 2025 at 10:35 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

one out, still at 15

[Jul 14, 2025 at 10:33 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

Cal Raleigh with 15 bombs heading to his bonus round. 

[Jul 14, 2025 at 10:33 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

The Joker and The Thief playing. That's my jam. Great, underrated song. Excellent ballpark song. 

[Jul 14, 2025 at 10:30 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

Cal Raleigh does not appear to be tired yet.

[Jul 14, 2025 at 10:23 pm ET · Kate Feldman]

Finals leaderboard

Junior Caminero vs. Cal Raleigh (18)

[Jul 14, 2025 at 10:22 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

The finals are set

Junior Caminero vs. Cal Raleigh

[Jul 14, 2025 at 10:20 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

Oneil just hit one 498 and it wasn't even close to his longest. He's a freak of nature.

[Jul 14, 2025 at 10:18 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

yeah, we've been seeing guys be tired out by the last round for years

[Jul 14, 2025 at 10:17 pm ET · Kate Feldman]

I do wonder how much of an advantage Caminero is going to have in the finals just because he's been able to sit for so long. Not a lot of energy exerted in that last round

[Jul 14, 2025 at 10:17 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

My prediction to win the Derby was jobbed! 

[Jul 14, 2025 at 10:12 pm ET · Mike Axisa]

Raleigh is up to 19 homers in the second round. That's gonna be tough for Oneil Cruz to top.

[Jul 14, 2025 at 9:58 pm ET · Kate Feldman]

I understand why not many people pay attention to the Rays but Junior Caminero is absolutely worth paying attention to.

[Jul 14, 2025 at 9:49 pm ET · Mike Axisa]

The official math on the tiebreaker: 471. 61 feet for Raleigh and 471.53 feet for Rooker. The difference is 0.96 inches.

[Jul 14, 2025 at 9:44 pm ET · Kate Feldman]

Second-round leaderboard

Byron Buxton (7) vs. Junior Caminero (8)
Oneil Cruz (13) vs. Cal Raleigh (19)

[Jul 14, 2025 at 9:44 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

Second-round participants

Junior Caminero
Oneil Cruz
Byron Buxton
Cal Raleigh (by less than an inch on the tiebreaker)

[Jul 14, 2025 at 9:43 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

that's it. Matt Olson is eliminated.

[Jul 14, 2025 at 9:43 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

Olson down to last out, still at 15

[Jul 14, 2025 at 9:41 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

OK this is gonna go down to the wire. Olson with 15 going to the bonus round. He needs two to tie and three to advance. 

[Jul 14, 2025 at 9:39 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

Matt Olson with only four homers at his timeout. He needs to get hot or be eliminated. 

[Jul 14, 2025 at 9:34 pm ET · Kate Feldman]

Agree with Matt on the teammates conferring on the sidelines. Even better, in my opinion? Guys who have never played together but are bonding anyway