Heading into today’s series finale, Oneil Cruz was experiencing a month to forget, hitting .153 with one home run and five RBIs. Don Kelly dropped him down to the sixth spot in the order behind the white-hot Ke’Bryan Hayes.
While it would seem the move lower in the order worked after Cruz hit two two-run home runs in the Pirates’ 12-1 rout of the Mets at PNC Park, Cruz didn’t seem to think that so.
“It doesn't matter,” he said via interpreter StephenMorales. “It's not about where I hit in the lineup. It's a personal thing that I need to do, just to be more aggressive.”
The aggressiveness that we’ve seen by the team this weekend and by the bullpen of late was apparent for Cruz in his first at-bat against a struggling Frankie Montas as he jumped on the first pitch to deposit this home-run to right field:
After the game, Cruz spoke about the adjustments at the plate, saying “I think it's a product of walking so much before, you can fall into a trap of being passive and not swinging the bat like you want to. Now, I feel like I'm in a better spot now and I'm being more aggressive. That's the plan at least.”
Cruz struck out in the third and fifth innings before his seventh inning blast:
Kelly on sticking with Cruz through his struggles, "To be able to stick with it. He hit the home run, had a couple of tough at-bats, went after a ball pretty hard and almost made a great play in the outfield and then to get another one even later. He needs to believe in himself. Going up there, he's a really good player, a really athletic player. He needs to believe in himself when he's down, because it's hard, man. He's been working at it. I think this past week has been a good learning experience for him."
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THE ASYLUM
Eric Bowser
10:10 pm - 06.29.2025NORTH SHORECruz smiling after two two-run home runs
Heading into today’s series finale, Oneil Cruz was experiencing a month to forget, hitting .153 with one home run and five RBIs. Don Kelly dropped him down to the sixth spot in the order behind the white-hot Ke’Bryan Hayes.
While it would seem the move lower in the order worked after Cruz hit two two-run home runs in the Pirates’ 12-1 rout of the Mets at PNC Park, Cruz didn’t seem to think that so.
“It doesn't matter,” he said via interpreter Stephen Morales. “It's not about where I hit in the lineup. It's a personal thing that I need to do, just to be more aggressive.”
The aggressiveness that we’ve seen by the team this weekend and by the bullpen of late was apparent for Cruz in his first at-bat against a struggling Frankie Montas as he jumped on the first pitch to deposit this home-run to right field:
After the game, Cruz spoke about the adjustments at the plate, saying “I think it's a product of walking so much before, you can fall into a trap of being passive and not swinging the bat like you want to. Now, I feel like I'm in a better spot now and I'm being more aggressive. That's the plan at least.”
Cruz struck out in the third and fifth innings before his seventh inning blast:
Kelly on sticking with Cruz through his struggles, "To be able to stick with it. He hit the home run, had a couple of tough at-bats, went after a ball pretty hard and almost made a great play in the outfield and then to get another one even later. He needs to believe in himself. Going up there, he's a really good player, a really athletic player. He needs to believe in himself when he's down, because it's hard, man. He's been working at it. I think this past week has been a good learning experience for him."
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