The Pittsburgh Pirates suffered through another losing season in 2024, failing to reach the playoffs for the ninth straight year. Of course, there is reason for some optimism in PIttsburgh. The team unveiled starting pitcher Paul Skenes last season and he went on to win NL Rookie of the Year. And, according to Andrew McCutchen, the Pirates also boast a budding superstar in Oneil Cruz.
“[Ohtani] does things that people go, ‘I’ve never seen that done.’ [Cruz] does the same stuff, stuff you’ve never seen… He has no ceiling,” McCutchen said, via MLB’s official account on X.
This is quite a bold claim from McCutchen, who’s been doling out baseball wisdom this spring, including telling Mike Trout to accept reality and switch to DH. But the Ohtani/Cruz talent comp is wild.
Do the Pirates have baseball’s next big thing in Oneil Cruz?
Cruz is undoubtedly a specimen at 6’7” and 240 pounds. And he’s blessed with prodigious power, which the Pirates hope to harness as he enters his prime.
Last season, Cruz produced at the plate. He finished the year with 21 home runs, 34 doubles and 76 RBI with a .773 OPS and an OPS+ of 113 in 146 games with the Pirates. If there’s a knock on Cruz it’s regarding his play in the field.
Cruz committed 26 errors in 2024, the second-most in MLB. He was 155th in outs above average for all positions. He ranked 103rd overall as a shortstop. Basically, by any metric, he was not very good in the field.
The Pirates decided that keeping Cruz at shortstop was probably a bad idea. However, the team very much wanted to keep his bat in the lineup. So Pittsburgh opted for a position switch, moving the talented hitter to center field. And, considering he’d never played center before, Cruz did a reasonable enough job in 23 games as the Pirates’ center fielder.
Cruz’s teammates are excited about the move to center, as he’s made strides at the position this spring. Most importantly, for the Pirates, he’s continued to crush the ball, produce a .643 on-base percentage and 1.011 OPS in six spring training games.
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