Pirates' Oneil Cruz Has Rough Day at Centerfield
Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz's transition to his new position has come with some hiccups, and that trend continued on Saturday afternoon as a few snafus put the team in a disadvantageous position during their loss to the Kansas City Royals.
With Kansas City holding a 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth inning, Royals right fielder Adam Frazier lined a Mitch Keller changeup back up the middle to begin the frame.
Cruz couldn't close in on time, causing him to make an ill-fated diving attempt. The ball skidded past him as he couldn't get any leather on it, gifting Frazier a stand-up triple.
He would come around to score on a Maikel Garcia double while the Royals would add another run later in the inning on a Bobby Witt Jr. sacrifice fly that extended their lead to 3-0.
Then, with one out and a runner on second base in the top of the seventh, Witt hit a routine fly ball that Cruz had trouble reading off the bat. He initially broke the wrong way and couldn't recover in time to make a shoestring catch, resulting in an RBI double for Witt as the Royals went up 5-1.
Since moving from shortstop to center field full-time on Aug. 28, Cruz has made 13 starts and tallied a total of 116 innings at the position. Over that stretch, he's recorded -3 Defensive Runs Saved and zero Outs Above Average while committing two errors.
Cruz's struggles in the outfield aren't overly surprising. He played 10 games in left field with Triple-A Indianapolis in 2022 and spent a single inning at the position in the majors that same year, accounting for all of his prior experience out there throughout his professional career.
If the Pirates truly see Cruz as a long-term fit in center, then perhaps it's better for him to work out all the kinks in a low-pressure environment to close out the season. He has all the physical traits necessary to make it work, and the hope is that he can come back in 2025 as a much-improved defender.
JACK MARKOWSKI