WASHINGTON -- We may have never seen a player like Oneil Cruz before. And don't turn your head for one second, or you'll risk missing the next reason why.
In what ended up being yet another disappointing loss for the Pirates -- 3-2 to the Nationals on a Chris Stratton blown save Monday night at Nationals Park -- Cruz once again flashed his unlimited potential.
First, let's do a quick rewind: Since his call up one week ago, Cruz has thrown a ball from shortstop to first base at nearly 97 mph. He's also recorded the hardest-hit ball by anyone on his team this season at 112.9 mph.
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Oneil Cruz hits his first home run of the season Monday night at Nationals Park.
Monday night, he wowed us all again with how he hit his first home run of the season:
Look at those metrics. 109.8 mph. 408 feet. But that launch angle is the kicker: 19 degrees.
That's just not fair.
"It was amazing. It was a line drive," said Miguel Yajure. "It looked like it wasn’t going to go out, and it just went out."
"I thought it was going to hit the wall and it just kept going," Derek Shelton said. "This kid’s got unbelievable power. He hits the ball so dang hard. I thought it was going be a double and it just continued to go.”
This is just another reason why Cruz is perhaps one of the most unusual players we've seen in Major League Baseball. Sure, he's not Shohei Ohtani, but he's able to do things most players can't. When most players are aiming for a 25-30 degree launch angle for home runs, Cruz proved he doesn't need that with the right force behind the ball.
What makes Cruz able to do such a thing?
His 6-foot-7 frame surely plays a role, but there are so many little details that go into each player's swing. Some natural, some learned. I asked Shelton about this after the game.
"He creates a ton of leverage," Shelton explained. "Then the extension he has on the front side allows him -- that’s why you see him hit a lot of balls that are down, that area near the ground that he’s able to extend out and get. But the extension on the front side -- because he’s so big and so loose — is something that really stands out.”
While we've seen Cruz crush the low pitches (which the 112.9-mph exit velo came off a low pitch), this one wasn't low. And it was on the outside part of the plate.
“He just stayed through it," Shelton said. "He got a ball up and stayed through it and took a really good swing at it.”
"I had already programmed in my mind that it’s 3-1 and if he throws me a fastball, I’m definitely going to square that ball up as hard as I can," Cruz said through interpreter Mike Gonzalez. "That’s what he threw and that’s what I connected with."
Of course, there's a lot more to hitting than raw talent and natural ability. As with any young player, there are sure to be growing pains and -- with two days of MLB service time earned last year along with one week so far this year -- Cruz's big-league career has barely taken off. If and how Cruz is able to stay ahead of the cat-and-mouse game of pitchers constantly adjusting to him, that will help reveal if the Pirates have truly special on their hands.
"I’m definitely learning a lot, especially in the last week," Cruz said. "Just growing a lot more knowledgeable in the strike zone over here at this level and becoming a lot smarter and wiser on what pitches I want to swing at and which ones I want to avoid swinging at."
Cruz is giving many in Pittsburgh reason to be excited. As for the rest of the team, well...
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Blight Madris reacts after striking out in the fourth inning Monday night in Washington.
• Another late-inning undid the Pirates.
Stratton entered the seventh with a 2-1 lead, and he did his job in his first inning of work. And after giving up a leadoff double to Luis García to start the eighth, Stratton got two quick outs to nearly tight-rope out of the inning unscathed.
Maikel Franco made sure that didn't happen, depositing the first pitch of his at-bat into the Pirates' bullpen:
You might notice there was nobody up in the bullpen. That's because Shelton said the plan was for Stratton to pitch two innings.
When we spoke with Shelton after the game, he was clearly upset about how the game unfolded:
“He threw him a hanging breaking ball," Shelton said. "In that situation, we have to execute a pitch and we did not.”
David Bednar, who last pitched Saturday, was not available to pitch "in that situation."
• Prior to the game, the Pirates optioned Cal Mitchell to Class AAA Indianapolis and designated Anthony Banda for assignment to make room for Yajure and Josh VanMeter's return from the injured list. In talking with Shelton two hours before first pitch, the reason behind the decision to DFA Banda was rather simple and quite clear.
"We’re starting to make roster moves. We talked about it before: He became the last guy. He became the crunch," Shelton said. "When we’re making these moves, we’re ultimately going to get to the guys at the bottom of our roster. In this case, it was Anthony."
Regarding Mitchell, Shelton had more positive things to say about him, highlighting how Mitchell earned his way onto the 40-man roster and eventually the big-league team. The decision to option Mitchell was primarily due to the slew of roster moves on the horizon, but Shelton also said, "For Cal’s sake, we need to get him back down. We need to get him playing every day. Initial impression was really good."
• In his first big-league appearance since May 1 and his first start of 2022, Yajure pitched four scoreless innings, allowing four hits with three walks and no strikeouts. He did, however, get out of jams in the third and fourth innings where the Nationals had a runner on third base.
Perhaps most important, Yajure was only scheduled to pitch three innings, and he ended up giving the Pirates one more.
"Yeah, it was huge," Shelton said. "He did a nice job. He worked around a couple walks. He got a couple ground balls. We made a couple nice plays defensively behind him. But overall, a good outing for Yaju. The ball came out of his hand well; he spun the ball well. It was very positive to see that the things we’ve talked about with him in Indy, that he translated it into a major-league game."
Yajure was satisfied with his performance, highlighting how effective he was with his changeup.
"I feel like it’s coming back," Yajure said. "My curveball at the beginning, I was trying to make it a strike. My slider, too, then have to make the adjustment and throw it with more intensity. I felt the command was a little bit good today. I need to keep working on it."
• The Pirates are now 7-17 since the three-game sweep of the Dodgers in Los Angeles, 5-16 in the past 21. And three of those five victories came against the Cubs. The young guys are playing, but it was always going to come with growing pains.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• 10-day injured list: OF Ben Gamel (hamstring), 1B Yoshi Tsutsugo (lumbar muscle strain)
• 15-day injured list: RHP Zach Thompson (forearm), LHP Dillon Peters (back)
• 60-day injured list: SS Kevin Newman (groin), OF Jake Marisnick (thumb) OF Canaan Njigba-Smith (wrist), OF Greg Allen (hamstring), RHP Blake Cederlind (UCL), RHP Nick Mears (elbow surgery), Roberto Pérez (hamstring, out for season)
• COVID injured list: INF/OF Tucupita Marcano, RHP Duane Underwood Jr.
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Oneil Cruz, SS
2. Bryan Reynolds, CF
3. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
4. Daniel Vogelbach, DH
5. Bligh Madris, RF
6. Jack Suwinski, LF
7. Josh VanMeter, 1B
8. Michael Perez, C
9. Hoy Park, 2B
And for Dave Martinez's Nationals:
1. César Hernández, 2B
2. Juan Soto, RF
3. Josh Bell, 1B
4. Nelson Cruz, DH
5. Luis García, SS
6. Keibert Ruiz, C
7. Yadiel Hernandez, LF
8. Maikel Franco, 3B
9. Lane Thomas, CF
THE SCHEDULE
Same two teams tomorrow, 7:05 p.m. Matching lefties José Quintana (1-4, 3.60) and Patrick Corbin (3-10, 6.60) on the mound. I'll have you covered once again.
THE CONTENT
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