Introducing your latest Pittsburgh Pirates heart fielder, 6-foot-7 Oneil Cruz. I believe we’ve met earlier than, albeit you have been a shortstop as of 72 hours in the past.
The Pirates made some of the abrupt strikes of the 2024 season on Monday when supervisor Derek Shelton formally introduced to the media, “I believe as of proper now, we’re taking a look at him (Cruz) as a middle fielder.” The Pirates are dedicated to Cruz studying heart subject and changing into an outfielder. He’s finished enjoying shortstop. The experiment is over.
Simply eight days prior, the Pirates have been adamant Cruz was their on a regular basis man at one of many sport’s most vital positions. Issues modified every week later. So what occurred?
Cruz owns 24 errors in 112 video games, second worst in all of baseball behind Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz (26). His .939 fielding proportion ranks fourth worst amongst certified fielders.
There’s no denying the daunting activity of enjoying quick whenever you’re 6-foot-7. Coming off of season-ending ankle surgical procedure after solely 9 video games final season hasn’t performed in his favor. Nor does his inconsistency
When Cruz almost collided with left fielder Bryan Reynolds in Houston on a play the place he traveled about 100 ft from quick to attempt to catch a fly ball close to the road in left, all the pieces modified. Cruz dedicated three errors that day. A 4-0 Pirates lead, seeking to sweep the mighty Astros on the highway, evaporated right into a 5-4 loss.
The Pirates are 7-18 since.
Cruz, 25, is outlined by many as a unicorn of an athlete and holds five-tool potential in his body. He’s the tallest shortstop in baseball historical past. He uncorks over 100 mph throws to first base regularly. It’s most likely a consider why he was moved from the place and infrequently put Rowdy Tellez and/or Connor Joe in a troublesome place to select his errant throws. Typically issues don’t work out.
So, is it the proper transfer? There’s no denying Cruz’s offensive potential is a major plus at shortstop.
Cruz owns a 20-game on-base streak that features a .370 common (27 for 73), eight doubles, one house run, and 9 RBIs. His .384 batting common in August is second to the most popular baseball participant on the planet and a man seeking to break his personal American League house run report in Aaron Decide (.413).
He’s hitting .429 in his final 4 video games and has stolen 4 bases. On the season, Cruz owns a .273/.300/.475 slash line with 31 doubles, 18 house runs, 65 RBIs, and a .805 OPS. The offensive upside is a major plus at a traditionally weak offensive place. An analogous assertion might be mentioned for heart subject, the place the Pirates haven’t seen any manufacturing since Andrew McCutchen and Starling Marte.
The cruel actuality is Cruz’s protection was too insufferable for the Pirates to proceed down the trail of believing Cruz can determine issues out on the left aspect of the infield. On August 18, common supervisor Ben Cherington confidently acknowledged that Oneil Cruz was their shortstop. Eight days later, the Pirates solely view Cruz as an outfielder, particularly in heart subject slightly than a nook.
So what modified? After I requested Derek Shelton, he talked about inner conversations that went into the choice and in the end knowledgeable Cruz previously few days.
The Pirates making this drastic transfer with Oneil Cruz means two issues:
1. After they acquired Isaiah Kiner-Falefa, it was with the intention of him being the on a regular basis shortstop.
2. They don’t imagine they’re nonetheless in a playoff race. In that case, this large of a transfer wouldn’t be experimented with.
The entire course of is odd and doesn’t make sense. The Pirates proclaimed they have been going to ease Cruz into the place and provides him time to get comfy. He DH’d on Monday and Tuesday however began in heart for the primary time on Wednesday, two days after the choice was formally made.
Shelton and the Pirates need to see Cruz carry out in sport motion to find out what to do with him shifting ahead. They wouldn’t be doing this in the event that they nonetheless believed the Pirates may attain the playoffs. An experiment as excessive as this solely applies after waiving the white flag. It’s onerous to assume in any other case after being swept by the Chicago Cubs and permitting 41 runs in three video games. By the way in which, Mitch Keller, Jared Jones, and Paul Skenes began the three matchups. The Pirates blew a 10-3 lead from the seventh inning on Wednesday, which was arguably the worst lack of the season. This can be a full catastrophe.
So, possibly it’s the right time to experiment with Cruz in a brand new place. I’d have slightly waited till the tip of the season – there are solely 30 video games left – and labored with Cruz all through the offseason and spring coaching to be prepared for opening day 2025 in PNC Park’s spacious outfield. As an alternative, Cruz made his first begin on Wednesday after solely in the future of prior pregame apply.
In his first throw house on a bang-bang play on the plate, Cruz deposited the toughest throw by a Pirates outfielder in 2024 and the second-hardest throw of any outfielder in baseball this season. He was charged an error after catcher Yasmani Grandal couldn’t choose a one-hopper house, but it surely wasn’t Cruz’s fault the ball received to the backstop on a play on the plate.
“He did a great job,” Shelton mentioned after the sport Wednesday. “He threw the ball to the proper base. Made a great throw to the plate. He’s going to must discover ways to long-hop. The opposite instances, he threw to the proper base. He did a pleasant job.”
Cruz did higher than I anticipated for his first time on the market. It’s the proper transfer for the longer term, however a conflicting one within the current. Cruz goes to make errors. There will likely be rising pains. The Pirates know that and even specific it. That doesn’t excuse the truth that this sudden and abrupt transfer solidifies one other misplaced season of under-.500 baseball.
May Cruz turn into the following Omar Moreno? A 6-foot-2 heart fielder who additionally hit from the left aspect, Moreno is among the taller heart fielders in Pirates historical past and was a key clog of the 1979 World Sequence group. Jazz Chisholm is perhaps the very best comparability for Cruz. Chisholm began as an infielder, moved to heart subject, grew to become an MLB The Present video-game cowl athlete, after which moved again to the infield after being traded to the New York Yankees on the commerce deadline.
Regardless, Oneil Cruz is among the most vital gamers within the Pirates group. They tousled growing him to turn into a great defensive shortstop. If they’ll’t flip their dwelling unicorn right into a star within the outfield, extra vital adjustments will come to the North Shore than Cruz shifting to a unique place.
