BRADENTON, Fla. — Oneil Cruz comes from a family of shortstops, so his switch to center field late last season came with concerns about whether the Pittsburgh Pirates star would accept the new position.
Before Cruz left the Dominican Republic for spring training, his 6-year-old son provided the true test by asking whether the move was a permanent one: Dad, are you not going to play shortstop anymore? Oneil Cruz Jr. asked. Nope, his father replied. OK, I think I better move to the outfield, also. I want to be an outfielder like you.
“That’s when I realized, even my kid is thinking about outfield,” Cruz said Wednesday, through translator Stephen Morales. “I’m fine with it. I’ve accepted it. It’s good.”
Just how good Cruz can be in center field is going to be one of the best storylines of spring training. MLB Network ranks him the No. 10 center fielder right now, after he played only 195 innings over 23 games at the position after spending the previous 202 at shortstop.
At 6-foot-7, 215 pounds, with the strongest arm of any outfielder in baseball and elite sprint speed, the 26-year-old Cruz certainly has the tools to excel in center. The Pirates believe Cruz’s ceiling is cathedral.
“You don’t find athletes like that, when you have the ability to move the way he does at that size,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “Sometimes, you need to let a guy that’s that good of an athlete (play). We’re excited about the steps he took last year and even with a full spring training how much better he can get.”
Tommy Pham saw Cruz firsthand while playing winter ball with Tigres del Licey in the Dominican Republic, which prompted Pham to tell Cruz he wanted to play for the Pirates. Not only is Pham excited to flank Cruz in left field, but he wants to help maximize his potential.
“I think highly of him. He’s a guy where if he really puts everything into being the best him, I think the game will have an incredible superstar in its hands,” Pham said. “He has speed, and he has a bazooka for an arm. I really want to see him put it together, and I’m going to be in his ear challenging him every day. One, the team needs that. And he’s going to be making us better in this process, as well.”
Where Cruz was bold in predicting a 40-40 season in 2023 before his injury, he doesn’t want to discuss anything but his defense. He ranked among the Pirates’ batting leaders, with a .259/.324/.449 slash line, 34 doubles, 21 home runs, 76 RBIs and 22 stolen bases, and the Pirates hope the position switch will unburden him offensively.
But his defense became a disaster last summer. After Cruz made a dozen errors in the span of a month, the Pirates decided it was time to pull the trigger on a position switch late last August. Shelton was “really impressed” with Cruz’s lateral movement in center after missing all but the first nine games of the 2023 season with a fractured left ankle.
Where Cruz is tempted to throw out runners, especially at home, and occasionally missed the cut-off or threw to the wrong base, the Pirates were impressed with how easily he adapted. What stood out to Shelton was how Cruz made a handful of difficult plays appear routine.
“We graded him, and it was a five-star play,” Shelton said. “Other guys are struggling to get to that ball, and he’s catching them easily. In terms of consistency with the throwing is something we threw him into the fire unfairly. I think I even said at the time, he’s going to throw the ball to the wrong base; he’s going to make a bad throw. He’s going to do these things. He has to learn to play out there. That’s why I’m excited about spring training, to be able to walk through those situations with him.”
Pirates first-base coach Tarrik Brock, who also instructs the outfielders, said he saw a shift in Cruz’s mindset last September. He was excited to play in certain ballparks, most notably Yankee Stadium. Cruz said he still plans to use the outfield glove gifted to him by former teammate Michael A. Taylor, an AL Gold Glove winner. But when Cruz arrived this spring, Brock saw that he brought a custom outfielder’s glove marked with his trademark logo and red-and-gold colors.
That was a sign of acceptance. Now is the time for growth.
“I told him two things: In order to grow, you’ve got to grow down, to set some roots before you grow up,” Brock said. “He really accepts that. Right now, he’s getting a lot of stuff thrown at him because he needs it but also because he can handle it.”
Where Cruz spent last spring at shortstop, Brock said he’s “getting two helpings” in center field in this camp. The expectation is for Cruz to show aptitude and discipline, including when to throw and when not, and to provide leadership from the middle of the outfield.
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“He’s in a spot now where he has to lead two guys playing at a distance from him and having him take a step forward,” Brock said. “Just seeing the smile out there. When he’s smiling and he’s playing outfield, we’re in a really good spot.”
Brock also wants Cruz to not be hard on himself when he makes a mistake, stressing the importance of moving on from great plays and those that didn’t go the way he wanted.
“That way,” Brock said, “he’s not stuck in the past and able to excel in the moment.”
Where Cruz proved error-prone in the infield, charged with 42 in two seasons, he’s working to become a solid defender in center.
“New position,” Cruz said. “I was catching a lot of fly balls, doing a lot of outfield stuff, throwing to the bases and doing all the stuff I need to do to become a better outfielder and be in a good spot for now and the new season.”