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Pirates' Oneil Cruz will bring his record-breaking power to the Home Run Derby

Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz, known more for delivering hard-hit homers than producing them in quantity, was added Tuesday to next week's Home Run Derby in Atlanta.

He is the fifth player named as a participant in Monday's event at Truist Park, which hosts the All-Star Game a night later. Also competing are Atlanta's Ronald Acuña Jr., Minnesota's Byron Buxton, Seattle's Cal Raleigh and Washington's James Wood.

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Cruz, 26, had 15 homers entering Tuesday night's game at Kansas City. He hit a career-best 21 last season.

When the 6-foot-7 Cruz hits a homer, he often hits it hard. On May 25 against visiting Milwaukee, he hit a ball measured at 122.9 mph into the Allegheny River, the highest exit velocity on a home run since Statcast began tracking in 2015.

He also showed off his arm Sunday with a 105.2 mph throw to nail Seattle’s J.P. Crawford at the plate. That was the second-hardest thrown ball to produce an outfield assist recorded by Statcast.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

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