Finally called back to atlanta braves jersey 2021 the majors, Pirates' Oneil Cruz showing he belongs among baseball's best
June 22, 2022
(Getty Images) MLB Blankets
The Pirates waited more than two months before calling up top prospect Oneil Cruz, much to the frustration of baseball fans in Pittsburgh.
Cruz needed only about two minutes to show why those long-suffering fans were so eager to see the 6-foot-7 shortstop — no, that height is not a typo — back in the big leagues. In his first MLB game of 2022, he went 2-for-5 wi atlanta braves throwback jersey th a double and four RBIs against the Cubs, but moreShohei Ohtani impressive were the Statcast numbers. His second-inning double was scorched, with an exit velocity of 112.9 mph, the highest exit velocJ.T. Realmuto ity for any batted ball by a Pirates hitter all season. And his third-inning throw to nab Willson Contreras at first base was recorded at 96.7 mph by Statcast, the hardest throw by any infielder in the majors all season.
Yeah. His skills have skills t atlanta braves world series merch hat have skills.
“For him, the sky’s the limit,” Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes told Sporting News the d atlanta braves jersey olson aMLB Watchesy before Opening Day. “To me, he’s one of those guys like (Juan) Soto, (Fernando) Tatis (Jr.). He has that in him. When he’s locked in, no one’s going to get him out. I’ve never seen someone atlanta braves jersey grey hit the ball so hard so consistently.”
If you happened to be watching MLB Tonight on Monday, after his debut, you heard the crew raving about Cruz.
So why did it take so long for the Pirates to call up the 23-year-old sensation? You probably already know the answer to that question. The official reason was the club wanted to give him more development time in the minors. But by keeping him in the minors through mid-June, they “may end up gaining a year of control down the line, keeping Cruz from accruing enough service time to qualify for Super 2 status, which would make him arbitration-eligible a year sooner,” according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Let’s see your shocked face. Somewhere, Kris Bryant is wincing.
In 15 ABs this spring, Cruz batted .333 with two homers and a 1.066 OPS. “When that dude’s locked in …,” Hayes said, smiling, “the two home runs he hit in spring, the ball damn near bounced off the plate and he still crushed them out of the park.”
Sent back to the minors to start the season, Cruz didn’t r atlanta braves jersey for kids eally hide his frustration. He got off to a slow start at the plate, but in his final 33 games before his call-up, Cruz posted an .894 OPS, to go with eight homers, 25 RBIs, 30 runs scored and a .374 on-base percentage.
The Pirates played eight other guys at shortstop this season before handing the role to Cruz, and there’s a reason nobody stuck in the position. Rookie Diego Castillo had a .419 OPS in 98 PAs as a shortstop, rookie Rodolfo Castro had a .503 OPS in 65 PAs and veteran Kevin Newman was at .683 in 52 PAs before he landed on the IL with a groin injury.
But, as Pirates fans can finally happily say, he’s in the bigs now. Cruz originaMLB Baby Clothing lly signed with the Dodgers as an amateur free agent, then was dealt to Pittsburgh in a deal for veteran lefty reliever Tony Watson at the 2017 trade deadline. He’s spent his time in the Pirates organization making a series of “remember when” first impressions.
“The very first time I saw him was in spring training, when he was 18, he was hitting balls off the curveball machine over the batter’s eye,” Hayes said in early April.
“I never played with him in the minor leagues, but I got to spend a lot of time with him and Nick Gonzales and those guys at the alt site in 2020. We have a lot of good talent coming.”
And now one of the key pieces is finally in Pittsburgh, and there is much rejoicing.