DENVER -- Oneil Cruz's hands are so huge they could qualify for their own ZIP codes.
His physical presence can come across that way, as well, even beyond the 6-7 stature, the record-shattering velocities and all that fun, freak-show fodder. He's got a bit of an aura to him. An awareness of the many talents he's got that others don't. And within that, a palpable appreciation of the expectations that follow, both from himself and those around him.
That's my sense, anyway, from a couple years now of observing and communicating with him.
So, when the following occurred Saturday at Coors Field ...
... rather than routinely recording the final out of the fifth inning, Cruz offered Colorado's best hitter a lick-the-lips opportunity to do what Kris Bryant tends to do in such settings:
It'd be the only run that mattered in the Pirates' 2-0 blanking by the Rockies. It'd be their fourth loss in a row after a winning streak that'd somehow gone the same length. It'd undo yet another strong start from Mitch Keller, this of six innings, six Ks, two walks and that one robustly unearned run. And it'd underscore yet again how precious little offense the current Yoshi Tsutsugo/Josh VanMeter lineup offers, with a half-dozen hits and five of those singles at this high altitude.
All of which appeared to hit Cruz as hard as anyone afterward. He slumped at his stall, seated and staring straight ahead, as a couple teammates talked around him. He stayed this way for several minutes, and one might think he'd spaced out or something but for the furrowed-brow flare of that stare.
Just before, I'd asked Derek Shelton if Cruz had the ball simply slip on him.
"Yeah, that's just unfortunate," the manager replied. "I mean, we're gonna have errors. We're gonna have physical errors. But Oneil just threw a ball away. And then, we left a slider up to Kris, and he got a base hit. But you know, ultimately, it comes down to we didn't score, and that's the most important thing."
Fair enough on the offense, since two total runs over 18 innings at this place is rare air unto itself. And the same goes for Shelton focusing away from a prized pupil messing up.
From my perspective, I don't fret over Cruz's offense. Yeah, his first 102 big-league at-bats have him slashing .216/.250/.431, but he's also got five home runs, 11 extra-base hits and 19 RBIs in just 27 games. And to emphasize, these are his first 102 big-league at-bats. Just because we've all been buzzing about him for a while doesn't mean he's been here for a while.
Besides, he never really digs himself too deep a hole. Only twice has he gone back-to-back games without a hit, never more than two games, and he'd go 1 for 4 in this one, on a smashed single off the right-field fence:
The bad: He needed to bolt out of that box a heck of a lot more quickly than he did. If Daniel Vogelbach can take two bases on a hit, one of baseball's fastest humans can't be excused for taking one.
The good: Wow, just look at it. It's a one-handed, pulled poke at a pretty good pitch down and away, and it almost got out. One of those many talents he's got that others don't.
He'll hit. He'll learn opponents, he'll counterpunch and he'll crush his share even as he gains consistency.
But I do fret over other stuff, the less tangible stuff. At least a little. Because I don't and can't know how he'll handle failure.
There's no sport that celebrates the capability to overcome failure quite like baseball, and he'll have to find his own way out more often than not. And that goes double on a team where the hitting coach, Andy Haines, hasn't been able to get results either with the Pirates or at his previous posts in Chicago and Milwaukee. Off the field, too, Cruz is visibly a fine teammate, making friends even with the newest arrivals. But when he's down, and he's got that glare, that wouldn't be seen as inviting by anyone. He'll make his space.
There are two Pittsburgh reporters on this trip, myself and the Post-Gazette's Mike Persak, and, although that paper's our main competitor, there are occasions when cooperation benefits all concerned. We asked team interpreter Mike Gonzalez if we could get a few words with Cruz to afford him a chance to describe the error. That's standard fare. Cruz, through Gonzalez, said he'd rather not, but added that, if he'd be required to do so, he'd comply after taking a shower.
No thanks, Persak and I agreed. That'd yield nothing of worth, and it'd only risk losing this vital young player's trust over a sequence that, candidly, was as glaringly obvious as it gets.
Anyway, as we headed out of the clubhouse, I looked over my shoulder and saw Cruz walking back to his stall. Even though we were about 20 feet apart and I was moving in the opposite direction, we made instant eye contact. And then held it for a few seconds, even as I kept moving.
He hadn't forgotten. He hadn't backed off. He just needed some time.
He'll get all the time he needs where it counts.
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GETTY
Mitch Keller pitches in the first inning Saturday in Denver.
• My goodness, Keller's been outstanding for a month and a half now, and it's only strengthening.
In the nine starts since rejoining the rotation May 31 and installing the sinker as his primary pitch, he's got a 3.40 ERA, he's averaging 5.6 innings, and he's had 45 strikeouts against 19 walks. On top of that, he's performed with uncommon poise and persistence.
I asked Shelton about the maturation at hand:
"I think, since we've gone to the sinker, we're seeing a different pitcher," he replied. "And on this road trip, even over the last month, just the execution of pitches ... he's commanding the ball. But I think the big thing for Mitch is is he continues to grow, he continues to learn, and he continues to execute pitches. It's something we've talked about for a couple years now, and I think we're really starting to see it."
I wrote it back in Bradenton: No player's performance in 2022 would be more pivotal -- in the truest sense of that term -- to this franchise's future than Keller. This is a massive plus.
• Funny thing, I was also writing back in Bradenton that Keller was reshaping his arsenal around the suddenly triple-digit fastball he'd found over the winter.
"Yeah, I thought I'd be all heat this year," Keller told me after this with a slight laugh. "I wasn't expecting this."
By this, he means not only the script-flip to the sinker but also the out-of-nowhere growth of the slider. He threw a few on this day that had Colorado hitters both frozen and flailing.
I asked if this is the most complete he's been as a pitcher:
"Probably in the big leagues," he'd reply. "Yeah, of course."
And why's that?
"I think it's just some consistency and confidence and just really keeping the hitters off balance, and the defense has been making a lot of double plays for me, which is huge. I need them back there. And just having Delay, Perez and Heineman be really good back there and call really good games, it's been helping a lot."
Every smart pitcher appreciates his catcher, so Keller did well to cite Jason Delay, Michael Perez and Tyler Heineman.
Not going to lie: It's been a blast to watch. And it might've been for the better, in hindsight, that his April and May didn't click, or he wouldn't have been as moved to try other pitches.
"Maybe," he'd reply when I raised that. "We'll see."
• The Pirates needed two whole runs in a hitter's paradise to tie, and the ninth inning saw Tsutsugo and VanMeter make the final two outs. Just in case anyone needed further evidence on top of the column I wrote Friday night about Ben Cherington and staff not caring in the slightest about the month of July ... except for seeking trade value on veterans.
I can't help but wonder, though, what level of idiocy would be involved on the part of any of Cherington's counterparts to bite. Tsutsugo, in particular, might be the worst regular in the majors at .177/.265/.245 with one home run and 15 RBIs. Framed another way, he's got 26 hits in 170 plate appearances.
Let it go already.
Actually, let him go already. It's OK to make a mistake. No need to insist that so many pay the price for it.
• Not to be outdone by Tsutsugo's 0-for-4 contribution, VanMeter's strikeout for the 27th out saw him take all six pitches he saw.
There isn't much I could pull off in professional sports, but I'm fairly confident I could stand in the box and watch six pitches go by while representing the tying run. Let me at it.
• Bryant's owned the Pirates forever, his 3-for-3, walk and RBI on this day raising his career marks against Pittsburgh to .354 with 19 home runs and 59 RBIs over 358 at-bats.
But he's not bad against everyone else, either, as the Rockies are finding out after bringing him here over the winter: Since returning from a back injury June 27, they're 12-7, including the current five-game winning streak, and all he's done is bat .356 with four home runs, four doubles and eight RBIs, part of an 18-game on-base streak.
"When he’s right, he's our best offensive player," Colorado manager Bud Black said afterward. "And when you go through every team and identify that guy, then take him out, what does that lineup look like? When you put him back in, what’s that look like?”
• Hm. Probably looks a little like the Pirates without Bryan Reynolds.
• By the way, loved seeing Reynolds letting home plate ump Charlie Ramos hear it from the dugout during an at-bat for his buddy Vogelbach. Shelton was no less loud, and Ramos responded by glaring their way with a flip-up of the mask.
• One more of these, then the All-Star break. It'll feel like a mercy killing.
• Thanks for reading my baseball stuff.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• 10-day injured list: OF Bryan Reynolds (right oblique)
• 60-day injured list: OF Canaan Njigba-Smith (wrist), OF Greg Allen (hamstring), RHP Blake Cederlind (UCL), RHP Nick Mears (elbow surgery) RHP Max Kranick (elbow), C Roberto Pérez (hamstring)
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Kevin Newman, 2B
2. Ben Gamel, LF
3. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
4. Daniel Vogelbach, DH
5. Oneil Cruz, SS
6. Yoshi Tsutsugo, 1B
7. Jake Marisnick, CF
8. Cal Mitchell, RF
9. Tyler Heineman, C
And for Black's Rockies:
1. Connor Joe, RF
2. Kris Bryant, LF
3. Charlie Blackmon, DH
4. C.J. Cron, 1B
5. Brendan Rogers, 2B
6. Ryan McMahon, 3B
7. Jose Iglesias, SS
8. Sam Hilliard, CF
9. Brian Serven, C
THE SCHEDULE
The series finale will pit someone -- Shelton said he'll announce a starter Sunday morning -- against Colorado lefty Austin Gomber. I'm on it, then flying home.
THE CONTENT
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