'Good in center field now': Pirates' Oneil Cruz embracing challenge of switch from shortstop

When the Pittsburgh Pirates moved Oneil Cruz from shortstop to center field, the greatest concern for talent evaluators was not whether he could play the position but rather if he would be willing.

Blessed with size, speed and an elite arm, the 6-foot-7 Cruz has shown in flashes how the move from infield to outfield could be beneficial. He clocked one of the fastest throws by a position player in his debut and showed the range to chase down fly balls in the gaps.

And, after only a dozen games in center, Cruz claimed to have embraced a position switch he was once adamantly against.

“I’m good in center field now,” Cruz said Saturday morning through interpreter Stephen Morales, a Pirates coach. “I’m not coming back to shortstop. I feel like out there I feel comfortable now. I feel like I’ve got more space and more mental peace to focus on my offense.”

Of course, Cruz also showed why scouts study his body language. He covered his mouth with his hooded sweatshirt during the entirety of a nearly 14-minute interview in the Pirates clubhouse, making it impossible to get a read on his often-animated facial expressions.

When asked his favorite part of playing in the outfield, Cruz had a long pause before saying with a laugh, “Listening to the fans yelling at me.”

Cruz’s play in center in a 5-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Saturday showed why his conversion remains a work in progress, as he misplayed several fly balls. He made a headfirst dive in an attempt to catch an Adam Frazier fly to shallow center, lying facedown on the grass as the ball bounced past him for a leadoff triple in the fifth inning. Then Cruz misread a line drive by Maikel Garcia to the right-center gap for an RBI double that gave the Royals a two-run lead.

Cruz also initially was charged with an error in the seventh inning when he tried to make a shoestring catch on a Bobby Witt Jr. fly ball, only for the ball to pop out of his glove and allow Kyle Isbel to score. It later was changed by the official scorer to an RBI double.

“There’s going to be plays he has to learn how to make, and that’s where we’re at right now,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “And that’s what happens when you take a middle infielder and put him in the outfield in center field.”

‘Going to do great’

Cruz seemed stunned when the Pirates revealed to him Aug. 25 that they had decided on the position switch after he committed 24 errors at shortstop, including a dozen since July 21.

Instead of sulking, Cruz spent two days shadowing 2021 AL Gold Glove winner Michael A. Taylor in center in pregame practice and batting practice, taking tips on how to position himself and make reads off the bat. Taylor even traded one of his outfield gloves adorned with a gold Rawlings patch to Cruz for an infield glove that helped his transition.

Shelton said the Pirates wanted to give the 25-year-old Cruz a chance to adapt to his new position during the season so he could work with Taylor and first base/outfield coach Tarrik Brock before heading home to the Dominican Republic for the winter.

“I think a large part of us making the decision was getting him game reps,” Shelton said. “If we do it in the offseason, all of a sudden are you going to ask him, ‘Hey, do you want to go play winter ball?’ And I don’t know if we wanted him doing that with the situation of us being able to coach it. Ultimately, we made the decision of what we felt was best. It’s not one that we took lightly. We talked about it a bunch of what would be the best for him. We came up with doing it now.”

After two days of serving as designated hitter, Cruz made his debut in center Aug. 28 against the Chicago Cubs and made a 103.3 mph one-hop throw to home for a play at the plate. Cruz since has looked comfortable in center — even if his nonchalant body language sometimes tells a different story — and has impressed his teammates by using his long strides to chase down fly balls in the gaps.

“It’s electric and he’s, what, two weeks in?” Pirates rookie right-hander Paul Skenes said. “It’s going to be scary for everyone once he’s really comfortable out there, coming into his own and all that. It’s going to be fun to watch.”

Cruz said he had yet to go full speed to chase down balls, which is probably why Taylor predicted that Cruz is “going to do great” in center. Much like Ji Hwan Bae before him, Cruz is using his speed to make up for his inexperience in the outfield.

“He’s got unbelievable speed. He gets good jumps. He’s putting himself in a good position pre-pitch. I’ve seen him doing his work. The instincts are there. He reads the ball well, so I’m not surprised,” Taylor said. “No one is going to be perfect out there, getting the right read and drop-stepping to the right side. It does help being able to adjust. He’s got makeup speed to catch anything out there.”

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington shared the same sentiments about how Cruz’s speed should translate well in center, as opposed to playing in a corner outfield spot.

Cruz had minus-1 defensive runs saved entering Saturday’s game, although he was charged with a questionable throwing error in his debut against the Cubs when the ball skipped past the glove of catcher Yasmani Grandal and Skenes didn’t back up the play.

“We’re seeing in the underlying metrics, in terms of how he moves toward baseballs, it’s about what we had hoped for,” Cherington said. “The raw speed is playing out. He’s getting to baseballs in either direction at a level that compares to major-league center fielders. He’s made routine plays.

“There’s more work to do and he, of course, knows that. It’s a new position so the communication element is still something he’s going to work on. I anticipate that to happen in spring training. We’re not going to solve all of that this year.”

‘My arm is going to be a weapon’

Cruz admitted playing center isn’t as mentally demanding as shortstop, which allows him “more room and more time to think about other stuff and free yourself up.”

The left-handed hitter leads the Pirates with 34 doubles and a .458 slugging percentage and ranks in their top three in most major offensive categories, including home runs (19), RBIs (74) and OPS (.782).

The Pirates believe Cruz’s arm strength can be a difference-maker once he learns when and where to throw to cut-offs instead of trying to throw runners out at the plate.

“There’s times where you want to go out there and make a difference, maybe make a play but the right play is keeping the guy off second and maybe not making the most aggressive play that you can make,” Taylor said. “He’s got an unbelievable arm. He’s very accurate, so he’s going to have a lot of opportunities to throw guys out. Sometimes, you can want to force that. Learning when to use and when not to will be good.”

Taylor, who was drafted as a shortstop, also noted the difference in making throws in the infield as opposed to the outfield. A one-hop throw to the base or the plate “is always going to be the best trajectory,” Taylor said, and the key is keeping it low enough to give the cut-off man a chance and high enough to clear the pitcher’s mound.

Shelton said the challenge for Cruz is to learn how to throw from the outfield, but the Pirates haven’t asked him to make any adjustments. The greater concern is throwing the ball to the right base, which Shelton called a “learned trait.”

Cruz committed another throwing error against the Washington Nationals in the first game of a doubleheader Sept. 7 when he fielded a ball, spun and threw between first and second base. The ball bounced off the leg of shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa, allowing Luis Garcia Jr. to advance to third and then score on a sacrifice fly in the 5-3 loss.

“His arm strength is so elite, we just decided ‘you’re going to throw the way you throw,’ ” Shelton said. “Usually with guys with big arms, they tend to be overly aggressive and want to try to throw guys out at the plate. The one thing that is going to be different for him is learning how to use the long hop. He did a good job of that on cuts, especially earlier in the year when we ran him out as the lead guy on cuts. That will be something that he’ll have to learn so he doesn’t give short-hops to guys.”

Cruz knows making throws from the outfield will be an adjustment that comes with time and more games. But he also knows firing a canon can do damage if it’s off-target.

“For sure my arm is going to be a weapon from the outfield,” Cruz said, “but right now I’m not focused on throwing guys out because I know it’s going to happen. I’m more focused on being accurate with my throws and to just play the game the right way.”

Cherington said the Pirates have been “very encouraged” by Cruz’s play in center. The expectation was that Cruz was still “learning how to use his throwing weapon” and where to throw — both things that will come naturally with more work and attention to detail — and that communication would be another adjustment.

Cruz said the communication isn’t a concern because he speaks English to corner outfielders Bryan Reynolds and Bryan De La Cruz, although he sometimes slips into Spanish when giving De La Cruz some grief.

Shelton said he has no concerns with Cruz’s mindset, only that there is a learning curve he has to endure and overcome in center field.

“There was no time that I saw a bad attitude with it,” Shelton said. “I think he’s accepted that that’s where he’s at, and he’s been working on it.”