Cruz shows potential, areas to grow, why he needs to do so in majors

CHICAGO -- An hour before the game, Oneil Cruz went down to one knee at third base and started to take ground balls with bench coach Don Kelly.

He was the only Pirate player on the field at the time, requesting the extra infield practice because of the team's off-day Wednesday. It's not the first time he has requested extra practice, either.

"I'm just trying to be better on defense, trying to become a master of my craft and trying to make sure I'm securing those routine plays," Cruz said through interpreter Mike Gonzalez. "I'm just going out there trying to make sure I'm getting better."

Cruz would end up making an error in the Pirates' 4-2 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field Tuesday. He would also be the big spark on offense, crushing a home run to dead center, one pitch after just pulling another towering fly ball just foul onto Sheffield Avenue:

"I thought he took three really good swings today," Derek Shelton said. "He didn’t get anything to show for the first couple of them. That homer is fairly impressive because the wind is blowing straight in from right. When it’s hit, you normally think, ‘Oh, that ball is going to leave.’ He’s having better, aggressive swings."

Cruz has had a couple of those good swings, including a homer off of Sandy Alcantara of the Marlins, one of the game's premier pitchers, Sunday. If there is a nitpick of those homers, it's that they were both against fastballs.

"I'm always hunting the fastball," Cruz said. "I'm a fastball hitter. I'm always going to be hunting the fastball."

And there lies the biggest hole in Cruz's game in his major-league career thus far. Of his six home runs, four were against the fastball and two were against offspeed pitches. Entering play Tuesday, he had a .264 batting average and .547 slugging percentage against heat, and a .286 average and .619 slugging against offspeed.

But against breaking pitches? He's 4-for-36 (.111) with one walk, no extra-base hits and 22 strikeouts, compared to just 20 punchouts against heat and changeups.

"However," Cruz said, continuing the previous quote, "if I ever find myself behind in the count, I know that they're just going to throw me a lot of fool's pitches. They're going to try to fool me and try to get me to chase and this and that. That's why I've got to change my approach, be a lot more patient, a lot wiser, making sure whatever pitch I'm about to swing at is more in the zone."

It's part of his game he's trying to figure out at the major-league level. Put the emphasis on the end of that sentence: Major-league level. Pitchers are throwing him more breaking balls, which has played a large role in his sluggish results. It's something plenty of rookie hitters have had to learn at this level. He's no exception.

And he's not going to learn how to hit a major-league slider or curveball in Class AAA.

"The speed of the game is completely different here," Shelton said. "With a lot of our young players, you see the adjustments they make — good and bad. The only place that that can happen is the major-league level."

It's why the Pirates are giving him this opportunity, and why my conversations with coaches have circled back to giving him a chance to grow at this level. Hitting coach Andy Haines refers to it as a "finishing school." Don't confuse his sky-high potential for him being a fully-developed ball player. He's got a lot to learn still.

And he's putting in the extra work to learn.

"I feel like I'm getting better in every situation of the game right now," Cruz said when asked how he feels he has grown at this level. "I'm learning a lot, especially the speed of the game and how important it is to make quick adjustments, just to make sure that I'm taking a look at sequences and taking good at-bats. Overall, I'm learning a lot and just trying to make sure I'm growing in every aspect that I can."

Cruz could be a key player for this organization for years to come. He's only going to get to that point if he gets reps in the majors. Tuesday is a good example of showing that he is a developing ball player, and that you have to take that, warts and all. If he grows to his potential, the end product will be worth it.

MORE FROM THE GAME

• Bryse Wilson was hit hard in the first inning, allowing three runs on three consecutive doubles to Seiya Suzuki, Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner. 

He settled in from there, though, and was able to put together a six inning outing without another runner touching home. While he didn't get many whiffs, he avoided the barrel by being able to locate his two-seam fastball to his glove side more.

After a rough first half of the season that saw him lose his spot in the rotation and then eventually his major-league job, Wilson has done better after some extended work in the minors. In July, he has recorded a 3.27 ERA over his four major-league starts.

"It's nice to see all the work that has paid off, but at the end of the day, there's always room to get better," Wilson said. "There's room to get better. Obviously eliminate that first inning, continue to improve, execute more often and put the team in the best place to win."

• Make that four straight quality starts for the Pirates' rotation, starting with José Quintana on Saturday and continuing with Mitch Keller Sunday and JT Brubaker Monday.

"I think it should be attributed to the fact of, number one, staying in attack mode and, number two, our breaking balls have been good," Shelton said.

When a rotation gets in a groove like this, Wilson says they can feed off of each other's starts.

"Let's see who can do better because we're all pitching well and continuously allowing to go five, six, seven innings, the team's going to have more success," Wilson said on the friendly competition among the group. "That's what we're trying to do as starters."

• The offense, on the other hand, is in a rut. As a team Tuesday, they had just four hits, did not draw a walk and struck out 10 times. As a team, they've been held to two or fewer runs in seven of their nine last games, including in four of the five they've played since the All-Star break.

"The solutions are different for every guy, but I think the one consistency is execution of our own strike zone," Shelton said. "I think today, we gave away too many outs early in counts by getting out of our approach. Even though it’s an individualized thing for each hitter, the team approach has to be consistent and it’s something we’re struggling with a little bit right now."

• Ok, one bright spot on offense: Ke'Bryan Hayes had some good swings this series. He drove a line-drive double into the right-center gap Tuesday and drove three hits into the outfield in the two-game series.

"I thought Key swung the bat really well this series," Shelton said. "I think mechanically, looks probably in the best spot he’s been in in a while. Looks like he’s really under his legs and driving the ball into right-center. It’s an encouraging sign over the past three or four days. I know he’s swung the bat well over the last 12 games, but the last three or four days, he’s looked about as good as we want him to look."

• This is probably the final time the Pirates will have to face Willson Contreras as a member of the Cubs. The long-time thorn in the Pirates' side is very likely to be traded before the August 2 deadline, and he got several standing ovations from the home crowd. 

• Housekeeping note: The error on Cruz from the eighth inning Monday was changed to a missed catch error on Michael Chavis. Instead, Cruz gets credited with an assist on that play.

• That's it from Chicago for the Pirates this season, who go 4-5 in the Friendly Confines.

Which means this is my last chance to hit up Andy's this season. See yinz back in Pittsburgh.

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Live file
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE INJURIES

• 10-day injured list: OF Jake Marisnick (great toe)

• 15-day injured list: RHP Chase De Jong (knee)

• 60-day injured list: OF Canaan Njigba-Smith (wrist), 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. Bryan Reynolds, CF
3. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
4. Ben Gamel, LF
5. Cal Mitchell, RF
6. Greg Allen, LF
7. Oneil Cruz, SS
8. Josh VanMeter, 1B
9. Jason Delay, C

And for David Ross' Cubs:

1. Rafael Ortega, CF
2. Willson Contreras, DH
3. Seiya Suzuki, RF
4. Ian Happ, LF
5. Nico Hoerner, SS
6. Patrick Wisdom, 3B
7. Yan Comes, C
8. Alfonso Rivas, 1B
9. Christopher Morel, 2B

THE SCHEDULE

The Pirates are off Wednesday and will head home to start a four-game set with the Phillies starting Thursday. Zach Thompson (3-7, 4.64) will take on Zack Wheeler (8-5, 2.78) with first pitch coming at 7:05 p.m. I'll have you covered.

THE CONTENT

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