The Pirates should trade Oneil Cruz.
There must be some MLB team still impressed by his amazing athleticism and willing to ignore that he’s 27 and hasn’t yet learned how to play baseball.
Beyond occasional flashes, Cruz is useless.
Cruz is a .233 lifetime hitter, a tragic .172 against left-handed pitching.
He’s got a 162-game average of 211 strikeouts.
He’s a player without a position. There’s no place to hide him. He was a butcher at shortstop, he’s even worse in center field. Can’t DH; Marcell Ozuna does that.
Cruz has terrific power, but doesn’t hit the ball enough. His ballyhooed metrics like exit velocity don’t matter if you don’t connect.
He can run. He can throw. He’s got all the tools, but no toolbox.
Cruz isn’t still learning. Not at 27. Not how to play center field, not how to do anything else. Anyway, he’s been in center field for over a year.
Cruz doesn’t learn. He is what he is, and it’s disappointing.
His baseball IQ is negligible. His regular IQ likely isn’t much better. He’s got no focus.
Thursday’s opener at New York was disastrous for Cruz, but really nothing new.
He mangled two plays in the first inning, chasing Paul Skenes after two-thirds of an inning.
Opposition hitters can’t crush Skenes, or his spirit. But Cruz did.
Skenes looked beaten down in the aftermath, like a prisoner of war. (He’ll escape soon enough.)
Cruz played one routine out into a three-run triple. He lost another in the sun because, unlike the Pirates’ other outfielders, he wasn’t wearing sunglasses.
Manager Don Kelly: “We need to make sure that we’re prepared.” Cruz wasn’t.
If Cruz makes those two plays, the Pirates get out of the first inning no worse than tied, 2-2. Skenes stays in the game.
Instead, the Mets beat the Pirates, 11-7.
Cruz lost the game.
Cruz won’t figure it out. He is, and will be, a career underachiever.
He plays losing baseball.
X made fun of him, including prominent athletes.
NBA star Joel Embiid took time from constantly being injured to post: “Cruz get ready to learn DH buddy!!”
Nine-time MLB All-Star Gary Sheffield: “Oneil Cruz is horrible.”
On the (too) bright side, maybe Cruz will get an endorsement deal from a prominent sunglasses maker like Oakley.
And still forget to wear them.
The Pirates are going to be rotten defensively. They’ve understandably compromised that side of the ball to get more bats in the lineup.
They’ve got a first baseman in right field.
They’ve got a right fielder in left field, which will especially hurt at PNC Park given its dimensions.
They’ve got a third baseman at shortstop.
They’ve got a second baseman at third base.
There’s no place to hide Cruz.
The Pirates won’t steal games with their gloves. In fact, their fielding will lose a few.
But the Pirates’ biggest problem might be Cruz.
He hurts more than helps, yet they’re counting on him.
It’s becoming more the Pirates’ fault than his.
