Oneil Cruz yanked the bright red batting gloves from his gigantic hands after the fifth inning had finally finished Saturday, the Pirates prospect upset after chasing three pitches out of the zone and striking out with two outs and the bases loaded.
As Cruz, the 6-foot-7 shortstop who’s equal parts talented and unique, walked slowly up the third-base line, the PNC Park crowd began to erupt. Many of the announced 22,910 were there to see Cruz make his MLB debut and were eager to voice their appreciation following a six-run Pirates outburst.
While the Pirates’ 8-6 victory over the Reds did not happen solely because of the oversized, fun-loving Cruz, he was responsible for much of the buzz that permeated the ballpark on this beautiful October evening.
He obliterated a ball for a single in the seventh inning. It traveled 118.2 mph, which marks the hardest-hit ball by a Pirates player in the Statcast Era (2015-present), and it took Cruz fewer than two hours to claim that honor. Cruz finished with two singles in five at-bats, drove in a run, scored once and flashed his terrific arm on a double-play turn.
“I truly believe that I belong here,” a confident Cruz said through team translator Mike Gonzalez. “I’m looking forward to being a part of this big league team.”
Saturday was easily the best crowd of the season, with lines snaking around PNC Park roughly 30 minutes before first pitch. Parts of it even felt like — gasp — a playoff atmosphere; with Cruz and Roansy Contreras making their MLB debuts this past week, it doesn’t seem crazy to think this level of excitement might be routine in a couple years.
If that happens, it’s hard to see how it doesn’t involve Cruz, the player the Pirates have joked looks like what would happen if Kevin Durant was born in the Dominican Republic and decided to play baseball.
Cruz has power. He runs like the wind. His arm could shatter glass with a tennis ball. And the guy never, ever seems to stop smiling.
“He hit a ball 118 [mph],” Bryan Reynolds said. “Threw the bat at it and hit it that hard. That’s unheard of. He’s a special talent. He’s gonna be fun to watch.”
That the Pirates brought him here was supposed to be a reward for Cruz maturing this season and being more accountable, manager Derek Shelton explained.
It also hasn’t hurt that Cruz has been tearing up Class AAA. In 68 minor-league games this season between Class AA Altoona and Class AAA Indianapolis, Cruz hit .310 (84 for 271) with 16 doubles, five triples, 17 home runs, 47 RBIs and a .970 OPS.
After he was promoted Sept. 20, Cruz hit .524 (11 for 21) with five home runs, a .655 on-base percentage and a 1.941 in six games with the Indians.
“I began this season making some adjustments,” Cruz said. “I’ve had some teammates and coaches that have been pouring into me. Being able to speed up my game and play my game a bit quicker has helped me out a lot this year. It feels great that the team trusted me with the opportunity.”
As entertaining as Cruz was to watch, the winning run came from an even bigger — not physically, that would be hard — Pirates pillar in Reynolds. With the score tied at 6 in the bottom of the sixth, Reynolds ripped a 1-0 fastball from Reds reliever Tony Santillan into right for his MLB-high-tying eighth triple of the season.
That gave the Pirates a 7-6 lead, and it was the third of four hits for Reynolds on the night. Reynolds is now hitting .483 (14 for 29) over his past nine games.
“We’re seeing a guy who is a premier hitter that right now is really locked in at the plate,” Shelton said.
Down 5-0 at the time, the Pirates’ fifth-inning rally started with singles from Ben Gamel and Jacob Stallings before Cruz, in his second at-bat, drove a full-count splitter from Reds starter Tyler Mahle through the right side for a single, allowing Gamel to score.
Wilmer Difo, who began the game tied for second in the majors with 15 pinch hits, drove in two more runs with No. 16, a triple that he crushed to the right-center field gap. Cruz motored around the bases and nearly caught Stallings by the time he scored.
Cole Tucker’s infield single netted a fourth run, and Michael Chavis put the Pirates in front, 6-5, with his two-run double down the left-field line.
After Gamel singled and Stallings walked, Cruz had a chance to do more damage with two outs and the bases loaded. However, Cruz swung at three consecutive pitches out of the zone, the second two sliders in the dirt, and struck out to end the inning.
Cruz struck out twice with two outs and the bases juiced, but it was also hardly enough to dull what was an extremely fun night at the ballpark. For Cruz and pretty much anybody who happened to watch.
“When I got on that field and began to stretch, I felt nothing but excitement,“ Cruz said. “I just wanted to stand at shortstop. I was really excited to get going and to be a part of this game.”
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: October 2, 2021, 10:06 p.m.
Updated: October 3, 2021, 3:40 a.m.