Morning Rundown: Oneil Cruz continues explosive Spring with two more home runs
Pirates shortstop tied for Spring Training lead after hitting two against the Phillies
The biggest headline for the Pirates this Spring has been their constant onslaught regarding the deep ball.
No team has hit as many home runs as the Pirates, and after three more on Monday, they are starting to pull away from the pack.
Oneil Cruz led the charge, hitting not one but two home runs on the day. Very few players are hitting the ball the way Cruz has been this Spring, who is in the top five regarding total bases.
He picked up three hits on the day, all with exit velocities of 106 mph or more.
Ke’Bryan Hayes, Henry Davis, Rowdy Tellez (who hit the other home run for the Pirates), Jared Triolo, and Billy McKinney joined Cruz with multiple hits on the day.
On the pitching side, Martin Perez continued his strong Spring, throwing five innings without an earned run (two unearned), allowing five hits, two walks, and striking out eight.
Roansy Contreras walked three in 1.2 innings, but all five of his outs recorded were strikeouts. He picked up whiffs on 10 of the 18 swings against him, with the slider doing most of the damage.
Nearly 60% of the sliders he threw were either whiffs or called strikes, and his fastball even maxed out at 96.2 mph.
Wily Peralta struck out two in his inning of work, while prospect Valentin Linarez struck out a batter in the ninth to finish the game.
The Pirates will have their last off day of the Spring before finishing up with their final six games.
Marco Gonzales is expected to be the starter when they return to play against the Yankees on Wednesday.
That game has an expected start time of 6:35 pm ET.
Top Exit Velocity
Rowdy Tellez - 111.8 mph - Home Run
Oneil Cruz - 111.1 mph - Home Run
Oneil Cruz - 110.9 mph - Single
Ke’Bryan Hayes - 107.3 mph - Single
Jack Suwinski - 106.6 mph - Single
Top Pitch Velocity
Valentin Linarez - 96.9 mph
Valentin Linarez - 96.7 mph
Valentin Linarez - 96.5 mph
Valentin Linarez - 96.5 mph
Valentin Linarez - 96.4 mph
Most Whiffs (Whiff%)
Martin Perez - 11 (28%)
Roansy Contreras - 10 (56%)
Wily Peralta - 4 (36%)
Valentin Linarez - 2 (29%)
Landon Tomkins - 1 (33%)
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No Pirates today?!?! The hell am I supposed to do with the middle 3 hrs of my day?
I am so guilty of getting pumped when one of the key players has a great ST. Convincing myself he’s going to far exceed stupid Zips predictions. While simultaneously telling myself it’s only ST and stats don’t matter when another key player is not hitting well.
Hope Springs Eternal!