Baltimore Orioles left-hander Cade Povich got Oneil Cruz swinging for strikes at four-seam fastballs on his first two pitches, one over the middle of the plate and the other on the outside.
When Povich sent another heater in the strike zone low and inside, Cruz punished the pitch by driving it 415 feet to straightaway center for a two-run home run in the sixth inning of Sunday’s 8-2 win.
Cruz has turned what was once his kryptonite into a superpower, as the Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder is thriving against left-handed pitching. After going 11 for 108 (.102) with one homer and eight RBIs against lefties last season, Cruz is 7 for 11 with three homers and six RBIs through the first nine games this year.
“It feels pretty good,” Cruz said through the translation of Pirates coach Stephen Morales. “The work I did during the offseason is showing up. I feel like I’m in a really good spot against lefties right now.”
Cruz concentrated on improving against lefties this winter, hiring a left-hander to throw him batting practice in his native Dominican Republic. While Cruz credits his hard work, he also appreciates the feedback he gets from his lefty pitcher, who continues to offer advice through text messages on how to “face lefties the right way.”
Cruz’s hot streak against southpaws started in Cincinnati, where he hit a single in his first plate appearance and drilled a 3-1 cutter for a 444-foot solo homer in his second against Reds left-hander Brandon Williamson in an 8-3 win on Tuesday. The following day, he cracked a curveball from Reds lefty Andrew Abbott for a three-run homer in the first inning of another 9-3 win at Great American Ball Park.
The change that Pirates manager Don Kelly has noticed is that Cruz has stopped trying to pull pitches against lefties and has found success staying through the middle of the field.
“The one home run, it was an off-speed pitch that he pulled in Cincinnati and the one to right-center that he absolutely killed,” Kelly said. “Then today, he’s staying through the middle of the field not trying to do damage to the pull-side. It’s staying through the middle of the field and if he catches it out in front and driving it. Early on in spring training you saw it the first couple hits that he had in spring were back-side line drives that were really impressive left on left. I think he’s just continued to evolve that approach.”
Cruz understands that attempting to pull the ball leads to a lot of groundouts, so he’s learned that staying through the middle of the field puts him in a better spot against lefties. Of course, Cruz has to be careful that it’s not an overcorrection: He’s 4 for 24 (.167) against right-handers, with one homer and four RBIs.
But he also is aware that he got off to a scorching start last spring, hitting two homers with four RBIs and an .877 OPS in his first nine games and batting .253/.367/.535 with eight homers and 16 RBIs through the end of April before bottoming out.
“Last year I started like this as well, but it’s just about being consistent and keeping my focus in the game,” Cruz said. “I worked a lot on that in the Dominican when it comes to the mindset.”
Cruz also credits the offseason additions of All-Stars Brandon Lowe, Ryan O’Hearn and Marcell Ozuna to deepen the lineup for himself and Bryan Reynolds, which is allowing Cruz to see better pitches this year.
“Whenever we’re on a roll, I think we’re going to be even more dangerous,” Cruz said.
Speaking of dangerous, Cruz went 2 for 4 with three RBIs and two runs scored in Sunday’s 8-2 win over the Orioles. And he did some damage early with a comebacker that bounced off the back of Bassitt’s leg at an exit velocity of 111.8 mph. His homer left the park at 107.2 mph.
“He’s incredible,” O’Hearn said of Cruz. “He’s just one of those guys, man. He does stuff that nobody else does, as far as how hard he hits the ball and so fast. The tools are loud, so it’s fun to watch. You see how he can kind of change the game at any moment.”