Introducing your latest Pittsburgh Pirates middle fielder, 6-foot-7 Oneil Cruz. I believe we’ve met earlier than, albeit you had been a shortstop as of 72 hours in the past.
The Pirates made one of the crucial 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 middle subject and changing into an outfielder. He’s achieved enjoying shortstop. The experiment is over.
Simply eight days prior, the Pirates had been adamant Cruz was their on a regular basis man at one of many sport’s most vital positions. Issues modified per 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 job of enjoying quick if 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 try to catch a fly ball close to the road in left, every thing 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 frequently. It’s in all probability a consider why he was moved from the place and sometimes put Rowdy Tellez and/or Connor Joe in a troublesome place to choose his errant throws. Generally issues don’t work out.
So, is it the suitable 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 well liked baseball participant on the planet and a man seeking to break his personal American League house run file 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 identical assertion may be mentioned for middle 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 facet of the infield. On August 18, normal supervisor Ben Cherington confidently acknowledged that Oneil Cruz was their shortstop. Eight days later, the Pirates solely view Cruz as an outfielder, particularly in middle subject reasonably than a nook.
So what modified? Once I requested Derek Shelton, he talked about inner conversations that went into the choice and in the end knowledgeable Cruz prior to now few days.
The Pirates making this drastic transfer with Oneil Cruz means two issues:
1. Once 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. If that’s the case, this massive of a transfer wouldn’t be experimented with.
The entire course of is odd and doesn’t make sense. The Pirates proclaimed they had 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 middle for the primary time on Wednesday, two days after the choice was formally made.
Shelton and the Pirates wish to see Cruz carry out in sport motion to find out what to do with him transferring ahead. They wouldn’t be doing this in the event that they nonetheless believed the Pirates might 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 best way, 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 might have reasonably waited till the top 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 a substitute, Cruz made his first begin on Wednesday after solely in the future of prior pregame follow.
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 decide a one-hopper house, nevertheless it wasn’t Cruz’s fault the ball acquired to the backstop on a play on the plate.
“He did an excellent job,” Shelton mentioned after the sport Wednesday. “He threw the ball to the suitable base. Made an excellent throw to the plate. He’s going to need to discover ways to long-hop. The opposite occasions, he threw to the suitable base. He did a pleasant job.”
Cruz did higher than I anticipated for his first time on the market. It’s the suitable transfer for the longer term, however a conflicting one within the current. Cruz goes to make errors. There can be rising pains. The Pirates know that and even categorical it. That doesn’t excuse the truth that this sudden and abrupt transfer solidifies one other misplaced season of under-.500 baseball.
May Cruz change into the following Omar Moreno? A 6-foot-2 middle fielder who additionally hit from the left facet, Moreno is likely one of the taller middle fielders in Pirates historical past and was a key clog of the 1979 World Sequence group. Jazz Chisholm is perhaps the perfect comparability for Cruz. Chisholm began as an infielder, moved to middle 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 likely one of the most vital gamers within the Pirates group. They tousled creating him to change into an excellent defensive shortstop. If they’ll’t flip their dwelling unicorn right into a star within the outfield, extra important adjustments will come to the North Shore than Cruz transferring to a distinct place.
