Tim Benz: Oneil Cruz's HR Derby explosion, Paul Skenes' All-Star start highlight 'cognitive dissonance' of Pirates' fandom

Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Oneil Cruz may not have won this year’s Home Run Derby, but he may have emerged as the biggest star of the night.

Seattle’s Cal Raleigh added another chapter to his magical season by winning the event. The Mariners’ catcher was every bit a worthy champion. The Major League leader in homers (with 38 on the season) lived up to his billing by eliminating Cruz in the semifinals and Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero in the final round to claim the title during Monday’s All-Star Week festivities in Atlanta.

The 28-year-old bashed an impressive 54 homers on the night to become the first catcher to ever win the Derby.

Cal Raleigh - Seattle Mariners
2025 Home Run Derby Champion pic.twitter.com/DasOrvzJjg

— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) July 15, 2025

However, while Raleigh won the crown, it was Cruz who walked away with the unofficial lead in making people yell, “Did you see that one?!”

The Bucs outfielder repeatedly got fans out of their seats and made people pound the rewind button on their remote controls by belting 34 homers over two rounds, including one that went 513 feet.

THINGS ARE GETTING OUT OF HAND ????

ONEIL CRUZ HITS THIS BASEBALL 513 FEET and 118 MPH ???? pic.twitter.com/2mtVUCSyEn

— MLB (@MLB) July 15, 2025

That tied Aaron Judge for the longest homer in Derby competition history, aside from when the event was held in Denver’s thin air at Coors Field. In all, the converted shortstop launched 10 homers that went over 470 feet.

As the entire MLB audience was watching, Cruz seized the opportunity to transform himself from an occasional Statcast footnote and trending highlight machine on social media into a mainstream talking point.

Now he just has to figure out how to do it consistently during games. Cruz put on display every bit of his powerful swing and dangerous, athletic limbs in the batter’s box.

That said, he wasn’t exactly getting nasty left-handed sliders thrown at him with an 0-2 count and runners on base. That’s where Pirates fans would settle for a hard line-drive single instead of trying for a 500-foot moonshot into the bleachers.

Strangely enough, that’s how Cruz ended up getting eliminated. He couldn’t keep up with Raleigh’s homer count in the semifinals because he kept roping 111-mile-per-hour line drives into the outfield.

Save some of those for the second half of the season, Oneil. We know the homers will come.

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That irony of how Cruz got knocked out and his overall success at the event underscored the emotional push-and-pull for Pirates fans during the lead-up to this week’s All-Star game.

Sure, everyone in Pittsburgh was excited to see Cruz put his power on display Monday night. Unfortunately, Cruz was a somewhat controversial addition to the Home Run Derby cast because he is far from an All-Star. While hitting .212, he only has 16 homers on the season because he has 116 strikeouts (third most in MLB). Plus, the last-place Pirates were mired in what became an eight-game losing streak at the time of his invitation.

Cruz’s stagnation as a player and failure to reach his potential have been some of the biggest storylines to this latest failed baseball season at PNC Park. As a result, while a lot of Pirates fans were smiling as Cruz launched rockets out of Truist Park all night, they were simultaneously gritting their teeth and saying, “Where has this been in games all year?!”

Oh, and, “Why can’t you run hard up the baseline, remember how many outs there are, and stop making so many errors in center field?!”

It’ll be a very similar experience when Paul Skenes gets on the mound Tuesday night as the National League’s All-Star Game starting pitcher.

The graphic next to his name will no doubt flash his sparkling 2.01 ERA, his 0.93 WHIP and his 131 strikeouts. The problem is, it’ll also include a Pirates logo next to his 4-8 record.

Because that’s how bad the team is, despite how dominant Skenes is. Such is life as a Pirates fan.

Hey, most of us didn’t choose this. We were born into it. Part of that experience is watching the best that we have on the sport’s biggest stage and wondering why it can’t ever be turned into something better from a team perspective.

Actually, we all know the answer to that question. I was just gettin’ all rhetorical, n’at. It’s because Bob Nutting owns and operates the franchise in the second-rate manner that he does.

Maybe it’s best to tune in as Skenes throws gas to three or four batters Tuesday night in the first inning. Then, once he gets pulled, rewatch Cruz’s Derby swings on the internet or on the DVR just to detach from the reality of the 65 games that remain in this predictably wayward season.

After all, if there’s one art we have mastered as a baseball community in Pittsburgh, it’s cognitive dissonance.