I'm not here to defend Oneil Cruz. Whether it's some subconscious sense of entitlement, or whether it's a genuine lack of situational awareness, there are zero excuses for how he's carried himself in the past handful of days, and there's zero reason for Don Kelly -- or his teammates, for that matter -- to tolerate it. 

Which is why it's wonderful that, last night in Milwaukee, Kelly didn't.

That said, regardless of who this might offend, Cruz has one problem above all, and he's had it for as long as he's been with the Pirates: He handles failure in much the same way a 10-year-old might. Which is to say, he can't handle it. He'll pout. He'll sulk. He'll try to do this inwardly, but he'll do it. He doesn't understand failure. He envisions a world in which he can hit 450-foot missiles into the Allegheny, and little else makes sense.

This is how he reacts. Always.