'Looks like a big-leaguer:' After just a taste, Cruz out to prove he belongs

BRADENTON, Fla. – The call up was unexpected, but deserved. After just six days in Class AAA, Oneil Cruz was being promoted to the majors for the final two games of the season.

“Those last two games are something I will never forget,” Cruz told me via interpreter Mike Gonzalez before the Pirates’ 6-3 win over the Tigers Saturday at LECOM Park. “It was such a beautiful experience."

In his final swing of the season, he also got a hold of his first big-league homer, grabbing a changeup at the ankles and putting it in the seats in right-center:

“That’s a home run I’ll never forget about,” Cruz said. “It’s definitely a home run I was thinking about the whole entire offseason. It’s something that reminded me to continue to keep working hard so I can keep having experiences like that when I come up.”

In the fourth inning Saturday, he almost exactly duplicated that swing and result, taking it deep to right.

“I thought that ball was about to bounce and he clipped it,” Ben Gamel marveled.

Leverage was Derek Shelton’s explanation for how Cruz keeps getting a hold of these pitches at the ankles. The tallest shortstop in the history of the game has proven on two occasions now that he can get anything and everything down low. If he can get the bat to the ball, it has a chance of going out, even if it’s out of the zone.

“You tell him to swing at pitches he thinks he can impact,” Shelton said. “With him, that zone is a little bit bigger. I think people get caught up at times at the strike zone, and you can't. You have to get caught up on what the hitting zone is, and when you're 6'7", you're hitting zone is a little bit bigger, and he showed it today."

Cruz showed that last year with Altoona and Indianapolis, hitting .310 across the two levels with 17 homers and 19 steals over just 69 games, which is why he earned the late-season promotion. In those two days in the majors, Cruz said he got a better feel for the speed of the game and learned that he had to emphasize having a good routine in order to be successful at that level.

“I think it puts him in a different position coming into camp with the ability to have a little bit more confidence,” Shelton said of the benefits of that taste in the show. “He knows everybody. He knows the staff.”

So Cruz has been in the majors. The question becomes has he played his last minor-league game? Could he make the opening day team?

“To be honest with you, that’s the goal,” Cruz said. “Not only to be there day one, but to be there for the entire season.”

The possibility doesn’t seem great, but not impossible. In years past, a player in Cruz’s position almost certainly would have started in the minors and been promoted at some point into the season so the team would retain another year of control. It was an industry-wide problem, which is why in the new collective bargaining agreement, the players and owners agreed to a system that could potentially reward a team with draft picks if they finish near the top of MVP or rookie of the year voting, on the condition that player was in the majors on opening day. If a player starts in the minors but still finishes in the top two for rookie of the year, they receive a full year of service time anyway, meaning that instead of that team retaining a year of control, they would have lost the weeks or months that players was in the minors.

If Cruz plays well and shows he is the best option for a starting job – his main competition will be Kevin Newman and Cole Tucker at shortstop, though Ben Cherington said they will likely explore other positions too, which almost surely means the outfield – those new rules could come into play. They won’t be the lone factor, though.

"What’s best for the player,” Cherington said when asked about the new rules and what goes into the decision making process. “What’s in this player’s best interest in terms of their development? What gives this player the best possible chance to be the best player for the Pirates and contribute to as much winning with the Pirates as possible. That’s gonna answer most of that question.”

When asked if Cruz is in competition for an opening day job, Cherington did not directly answer yes or no, but did say, “he, along with a lot of other infielders here in camp, will have an opportunity to compete for playing time and jobs.”

Is he ready? Gamel said, point blank, “he looks like a big leaguer.”

Many analysts and forecasters agree, which is why the Pirates’ top prospect according to Baseball America and FanGraphs is the front runner for National League rookie of the year. 

Not that he is thinking about that.

“I try to not pay too much attention to that,” Cruz said. “Throughout history, in my experience, I’ve seen so many guys be mentioned as prospects but still not reach the big leagues. For me, anytime that I hear anything of that, it just brings me back to the reality that I’ve got to keep working hard. Maintain that humility and work hard so I can have a good, solid career in the big leagues.”

MORE FROM THE GAME

• Mitch Keller's first game debuting his new velocity went a bit shorter than expected after he was drilled in the left thigh by a Daz Cameron line drive with two outs in the second. After a brief discussion on the mound, Shelton and the medical staff took him off. Keller left under his own power and is considered day-to-day.

While he didn't quite hit triple digits, Keller still reached 98 mph, which is harder than he threw at any point last season.

"Really, really happy with where he was at, because he worked really hard in the offseason," Shelton said. "I think he was probably our most visible guy on Instagram. To be able to see it and see it translate in, because they ran the top-end of their lineup out. It was some pretty good pitches, and he executed pitches pretty well."

He was not available for comment after the game.

His catcher, Michael Pérez, watched the videos of him hitting 100 mph on social media, but hadn't gotten to catch it before Saturday's game. I asked him how it looked.

"Pretty good," he said with a huge grin.

• The Pirates hit four home runs Saturday, courtesy of Cruz, Ben Gamel, Tucupita Marcano (the headliner in the Adam Frazier trade) and Endy Rodriguez (the club's No. 7 prospect, according to Baseball America and FanGraphs).

The wind has definitely helped, but you can't write off six home runs over two games.

"We're taking good swings," Shelton said. "We got some balls elevated. We hit a ball oppo today. Gamel took a good swing. And then I think you saw why Endy Rodriguez was the MVP of the league down here [Class Low-A Southeast League]."

• Gamel has been tagging baseballs here in Bradenton, going deep in a couple live batting practices earlier this week too. 

"It’s all timing, right?" he said when asked if he was ready to go. "If I can get my swing, timing comes next. Once you get those two rolling, it's a fairly easy transition."

• After Keller (and Cam Vieaux, a minor-leaguer who finished the inning), David Bednar and Duane Underwood Jr. each posted a scoreless frame. Class AAA reliever Hunter Stratton allowed a pair of homers in the fifth, but Cameron Mlodzinski and Mike Burrows (Greensboro teammates and two of the team's top 10 prospects, according to Baseball America) pitched three scoreless frames, with Burrows taking a pair. Matt Eckleman closed out the ninth for the save.

• Factoid of the game: The Pirates' last four home run game was Sept. 24, 2020. Bryan Reynolds, Colin Moran, Adam Frazier and Josh Bell each homered that day against the Reds.

THE SCHEDULE

The Pirates will head to Dunedin, Fla. to take on the Blue Jays Sunday. Dillon Peters will take the bump for the Pirates, with first pitch coming at 1:05 p.m. I'll be there for it.

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