Oneil Cruz
Oneil Cruz
Position: SS
Height: 6’7”
Weight: 215 lbs
Bats/Throws: L/R
Born: 10/04/1998
Country: Dominican Republic
Signed: International Free Agent, 2015 (Dodgers)
How Acquired: Trade (with Dodgers, along with Angel German, for Tony Watson)
Bonus: $950,000
40-man Roster: Yes
Rule 5 Eligible: N/A
Minor League Free Agency: N/A
Options Left: 0
Overview
Cruz is quite possibly the most unique player in MLB, and it just starts with him being a 6’7” shortstop, the tallest ever to play the position in the majors. His arm strength, according to StatCast, ranks in the 97th percentile, his speed in the 98th. His raw power may be second to none. In his very first game, he recorded the highest exit velocity of any batted ball by a Pirate since the measurement began. In 2022, he recorded both the highest exit velocity and the highest velocity on an infield throw ever recorded by StatCast. There are, of course, hurdles that he’s had, and still has, to overcome. He has a long swing that’s led to contact issues, but the power is so great that he doesn’t need to pull the ball, so he can wait on pitches.
The Pirates’ decision to keep him at short has been controversial, but they believe he’s athletic enough to stay there. He’s had problems at times, committing errors in large numbers, but with both his defense and hitting he’s made steady improvements. That shouldn’t be surprising, as his 6’7” frame requires him to make more adjustments than most players. Of course, if his bat develops as hoped, he’d only need to be somewhere in the vicinity of average to be a huge asset at the position. The Pirates acquired him at the 2017 trade deadline for Tony Watson.
2016-17
After a good season in the DSL in 2016, the Dodgers moved Cruz aggressively up to low A in 2017, where he played at age 17. Not surprisingly, he struggled. The struggles continued after he went to the Pirates. He had a lot of trouble with LHPs. The Dodgers divided Cruz’ time between third and short, while the Pirates played him mostly at third.
2018-20
Over the 2018-19 seasons, Cruz established himself as a top prospect. After a very bad start over his first ten games in low A in 2018, he broke out, putting up an .831 OPS while cutting his K rate. The Pirates kept him at short, although he committed 33 errors. In 2019, Cruz missed about half the season with injuries. He divided the rest of it between high A and AA. He hit very well (301/345/515) in high A, especially considering it was the pitching-dominated Florida State League, and fairly well in AA. The Pirates kept him at short throughout and he improved significantly, although he had a rash of errors, six in six games, soon after he got to AA. The Pirates added him to their 40-man roster after the 2019 season. In 2020, Cruz was at their alternate site.
2021-23
Cruz continued to progress in 2021 and made his major league debut. The one down note in his season was missing a couple months with forearm tightness. He put up big numbers at Altoona, then moved up to Indianapolis after the AA season ended and hit five home runs in just 21 ABs. Defensively, Cruz played short exclusively, as some observers began to think he might be able to stay there. Another positive at Altoona was that he stole 18 bases in 21 tries.
In 2022, the Pirates made it clear Cruz was headed for AAA no matter what, as they weren’t going to take the risk that he’d qualify for “super two” status. He apparently didn’t take the move well and slumped badly for a while at Indianapolis. They finally called him up in late June and he stayed at short the rest of the season. He struck out a lot, and had trouble with LHPs and breaking balls (he crushed changeups, though), but he made progress and put up an .884 OPS in September. He finished with 17 home runs and was on pace for a 30-HR, 100-RBI season. Defensively, the metrics (UZR and OAA) considered him below average, but not severely so.
Unfortunately, 2023 turned out to be a lost season. In his ninth game, Cruz broke his ankle sliding into home and missed the rest of the year.
2024
Cruz began the season as the Pirates’ starting shortstop and took steps toward becoming the player the Pirates have hoped he’d be. His first month was rough; he had a .634 OPS and was still clearly hobbled by the ankle. That problem occasionally flared up, which angered many Pirate fans who couldn’t seem to process the concept of a player not being fully healthy. From May 1 through the end of the season, Cruz hit 264/333/477, despite a slump in September. He finished with 21 home runs and 34 doubles, and a 259/324/449. He also struck out 181 times, a 30% rate, but the strikeouts will probably always be an issue for a hitter with such long levers. Cruz struggled badly against LHPs for a while, but made adjustments and finished with a .686 OPS against them. On the bases, Cruz stole 22 times and was caught just once.
Defensively, Cruz played reasonably well except he was prone to errors, committing 24, which was third in the majors at the position. In September, the Pirates moved Cruz to center, where he’d never played before. He performed well; the advanced metrics considered him slightly above average, although the sample size is very small. Among other things, the move may reduce the abuse that Cruz receives online from some Pirate “fans,” abuse that’s starkly reminiscent of that received by two other Latino players, Roberto Clemente and Starling Marte. By fWAR, Cruz was easily the Pirates’ best player apart from Paul Skenes.
Stats
Transactions
July 2, 2015: Signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an international free agent.
July 31, 2017: Traded by the Los Angeles Dodgers with Angel German to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Tony Watson.
November 20, 2019: Contract purchased by the Pittsburgh Pirates.