Nearly two-thirds of a year has passed since Oneil Cruz’s move from shortstop to center field last August.
That seismic organizational decision by the Pittsburgh Pirates now transcends parts of both the 2024 and 2025 campaigns.
Yet even with Cruz an increasingly familiar sight in center field, a double-take is still required at times due to the contrast in physique with his primary replacement at shortstop: Isiah Kiner-Falefa.
At 6-foot-7, Cruz towers over Kiner-Falefa, who is 5-10.
In terms of comparative arm strength, Cruz’s howitzer vastly overpowers Kiner-Falefa’s ability to get the ball across the diamond.
There’s no doubt Kiner-Falefa owns a different presence at shortstop than Cruz, but so far into 2025, Pirates management has found his defense there to be satisfactory.
“I think he’s been good,” said manager Derek Shelton. “Infield defense-wise, we’ve been pretty consistent. I know there’s a couple balls that I wish we would have played differently, but I think IKF’s played well.
“I think IKF is probably one of the most self-critical guys himself, so anything that doesn’t go exactly perfect for him, he’s going to continue to work on it. But there hasn’t been anything that’s really stood out. I think he’s done a nice job.”
Following Friday’s series-opener in Los Angeles vs. the Dodgers, Kiner-Falefa had played 25 games at shortstop (219 1/3) innings.
Aside from a pair of starts by Tsung-Che Cheng and one by Jared Triolo, it’s been Kiner-Falefa’s show at shortstop through the first month’s worth of games into the 2025 campaign.
Over that span, Kiner-Falefa has produced a fielding percentage of .956, ranking 20th among qualifying shortstops.
Of that group of full-time shortstops, his four errors are tied for third in baseball, while analytically, Kiner-Falefa has one defensive run saved this season per FanGraphs, ranking seventh.
Kiner-Falefa, a 2020 Gold Glove winner with the Texas Rangers in a season spent primarily at third base, had crafted a reputation as one of MLB’s premiere utilitymen at the time of his trade to Pittsburgh from Toronto last summer.
And for good reason – over his eight-year career, Kiner-Falefa has seen action at every position.
His first two years in the league, with the Rangers in 2018 and 2019, Kiner-Falefa averaged about 35 games per season behind the plate at catcher.
He has 177 career starts at third base, 61 at second and a combined 43 at the three outfield positions.
Serving as the Pirates’ full-time shortstop, the position at which he’s played the most (365 career starts), comes as welcomed duty for Kiner-Falefa, even if he does miss elements of moving around frequently in a utility role.
“Getting another chance to play shortstop, my whole thing is, whatever the team needs me to do — it doesn’t matter what team I’m on,” Kiner-Falefa said. “Pittsburgh needs me to play shortstop, and that’s part of my value, being able to fill in a hole at a high level. I take pride in that, and I really enjoy playing shortstop and doing what the team needs me to do in general.”
That said, Kiner-Falefa’s self-evaluation placed shortstop as his third-best position, following second and third base.
Continuing to better himself at shortstop remains a priority.
“I just gotta keep getting better at shortstop,” he said. “I’m really, really good at second and third. Shortstop, I want to take it to a different level — elite. I feel like I’m a little above average there, but I want to get better there. It’s a good challenge for me.”
Offensively, Kiner-Falefa is looking more like the player the Pirates thought they traded for last July.
When the Blue Jays shipped him to Pittsburgh, Kiner-Falefa (then on the injured list) had been slashing .292/.338/.420 with eight homers and 43 RBIs.
Upon regaining full health and debuting with the Pirates, Kiner-Falefa was unable to match those numbers, batting only .240 with a .265 on-base percentage, one home run and 11 RBIs in 50 games.
But so far this season, Kiner-Falefa has been one of the bright spots within a Pirates offense that’s largely struggled to begin the year.
Heading into the Dodgers series, he ranked first in batting average (.279), second in on-base percentage (.340), hits (24) and stolen bases (five) and third in OPS (.677).
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While Thursday brought a six-game hitting streak to an end, Kiner-Falefa brought hits in nine of his last 11 games into Saturday’s game against the Dodgers.
Whereas Shelton has thus far utilized varying batting orders and lineups, Kiner-Falefa represents one of the few constants.
Behind Bryan Reynolds’ 25 appearances hitting second, no player has hit out of one spot more than Kiner-Falefa, who’s batted ninth 19 times.
That comes in contrast to last season, when Shelton plugged him in at leadoff for 40 of his 50 games with the club.
As he looks to maintain his current offensive pace, batting last is a role he embraces and understands.
“Just trying to hit for a high average and not try to slug it,” Kiner-Falefa said. “I’m enjoying spraying the ball around right now. I think that’s the biggest thing. Just understanding my game, playing that bottom-of-the-lineup role of moving guys over, doing what the game asks, doing the little things and doing the dirty work for the top of the lineup. … Just take my knocks and try to be a tough out.”