Giant Oneil Cruz aims at the Major Leagues with Pirates

BRADENTON, Florida, USA (AP) Pirate outfielder Ben Gamel watched with admiration as Oneil Cruz, the short stop prospect who is 2 meters tall, drove before a ball, which seemed to be bouncing off the plate, disappeared on the wall of the central garden.

Cruz's home run, in Pittsburgh's first game in the Grapefruit League on Saturday, was almost identical to his first major league home run in October.

“He's very talented,” Gamel said about Cruz. “He already has that profile as a major league baseball player.”

That's the plan.

The imposing Dominican is an anomaly, not only in the shortstop position but also in the sport. He seems to be a basketball player, but he has the unusual combination of height, speed, power, physical condition and arm strength that makes it difficult to pigeonhole him.

Considered one of the key players in the reconstruction of Pittsburgh, Cruz, 23, looks like he could be the complete player the Pirates desperately need after losing 101 games last season and finishing in last place in the Central Division of the National League for the third consecutive campaign. It's no secret that Cruz wants to stay in the Major Leagues after his brief experience in the fall.

“That is the goal, the mentality. Not only do I hit the majors, but stay in the majors,” said Cruz, who hit his second home run of the spring on Monday. “My mentality right now is to work twice as hard.”

The Pirates were impressed by the way in which the Dominican recovered from a forearm ailment last summer to finish with a line of .292/.346/.536, with 15 doubles, five triples, 12 home runs and 40 RBIs, in 63 matches for the Double-A Altoona. He was promoted to the Indianapolis Triple-A team in mid-September, and hit 11 hits in 21 turns (.524), with five home runs in six games. The Pirates called Cruz for the last two games of the campaign.

In his debut against the Cincinnati Reds, Cruz hit a single that recorded the highest starting speed (118.2 mph) in Pittsburgh history since the Statcast era.

However, all indications are that Cruz will start the regular season in Triple-A.

Manager Derek Shelton and General Manager Ben Cherington have said they want Cruz to work in other positions in the field, and the best thing is to do it in the minors.

“It still has to be developed,” Shelton said. “Oneil will impact the team at some point during the year. When will it be? I don't think anyone knows.”

Cruz's development was interrupted by the shortened 2020 season due to the pandemic. After spending that summer with Altoona, he has only 310 at-bats in Class A. With Kevin Newman, finalist for the Golden Glove, back after signing for a year and being an unpretentious title team, the Pirates are in no hurry with Cruz.

But the Dominican has between eyebrows and eyebrows to stay as a torpedo boat.

To a question about playing in other positions, he replied that it is something that has not been raised, and then he made the gesture of fielding films.

“I'm going to stay there, as a shortstop,” Cruz said.

And he proceeded to mention names of players whose style he admires. Corey Seager. Manny Machado. Nolan Sandblasted. Francisco Lindor. They're all infielders. Cruz knows what he wants to do.

“I feel like I've already shown you a lot, but I guess you'll have to keep doing it,” Cruz stressed.