ThePittsburgh Piratesare slogging through a difficult 2025 season, going into Sunday's MLB slate with a 19-34 record. Only theColorado Rockies(9-43) are worse among the 15 National League teams. Yet despite their ineptitude, the Pirates have two of the most dazzling talents in baseball, players who can achieve feats rarely seen in the sport. Pitcher Paul Skenes, the reigning National League Rookie of the Year, is one of them. The other is center fielderOneil Cruz, who did something MLB hasn't seen in at least 10 years duringSunday's matchupwith theMilwaukee Brewers. In the third inning, Cruz crushed a high fastball fromLogan Hendersondeep to right field. The ball actually went over the stands and out of PNC Park. A rocket like that needed some major fuel and, sure enough, it was the hardest hit ball recorded since Statcast began tracking batted balls and player activityin 2015. Cruz's home run was measured at 122.9 mph off his bat. Henderson's fastball was clocked at 92.2 mph, so this wasn't a case of Cruz's bat colliding with a hard pitch and sending it the other way. He provided significant force to launch the home run out of the ballpark. This isn't the first time Cruz has lit up Statcast. The Pirates star already had the hardest-hit ball recorded by MLB with a 122.4 mph single on Aug, 24, 2022,according to MLB.com. Prior to Sunday's blast, the hardest-hit home run was a 121.7 mph shot fromGiancarlo Stantonon Aug. 9, 2018. Cruz's missile came on the same dayDetroit TigerspitcherTarik Skubalthrew the hardest pitch ever recordedby a starting pitcher in the ninth inningduring a 5-0 win over theCleveland Guardians. With 11 home runs for the season, Cruz has nearly twice as many as the next closest Pirates hitter (Bryan Reynoldswith six). He's batting .236/.359/.491 with 18 stolen bases. He's in his first full yearof playing center fieldafter playing shortstop during his first two full MLB seasons.
