The Pittsburgh Pirates have marveled at how Oneil Cruz dropped to one knee to hit a pitch in the dirt for his first major-league home run, used his extended reach to connect on pitches far outside the strike zone and set a team Statcast record with a 118.4-mph single.

What Cruz hasn’t done is hit with any consistency.

After flashing his power with five doubles, a triple, eight home runs and 27 RBIs in his first 37 games this season, Cruz has looked lost at the plate. Over the past 13 games, he is batting .128 (6 for 47) with one double, one home run and two RBIs, striking out at a 40% rate while drawing five walks in 52 plate appearances.

The slump hasn’t shaken Cruz’s confidence. He stressed the importance of staying mentally strong, and Pirates manager Derek Shelton said Cruz continues to smile through his struggles while working hard to improve.

“This could take a toll mentally on anyone,” Cruz said Monday through translator Mike Gonzalez. “No one goes up to the box wanting to strike out. No one wants to go up there just throwing away at-bats. That’s not the goal. That’s not the mission.

“Every time I get up there, I’m trying to go up there with a plan. I have a good coaching staff that’s pouring into me and equipping me for those at-bats. Unfortunately, the results aren’t falling my way. I just got to keep working. Keep working, keep learning, keep finding ways to dominate and defeat that. More than anything, just maintaining a strong mental mind game so I make sure that I don’t fall apart and that I don’t lose myself out there.”

This stretch is a reminder that for all of Cruz’s tantalizing talent, the 6-foot-7, 220-pound shortstop is still a 23-year-old rookie adapting to big league pitching and umpiring, one who appears confounded by breaking balls and offspeed stuff. Cruz is attempting to prevent his problems at the plate from transferring to the field, though he has committed errors in his last three starts at shortstop.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton on dealing with the struggles of rookie Oneil Cruz, who’s batting .128 (6 for 47) over his last 13 games. pic.twitter.com/LelZIvaoY5

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) August 23, 2022

“I think those outlier things are what make him stand out and make us all realize at times that he is a rookie and he is going to go through these things,” Shelton said. “Now if you come up and you struggle and do things at a very average level, Statcast-wise, you don’t take as much notice. But when you see a throw at 100 (mph), you see a ball hit at 117, then that’s the expectation for everything.

“The big thing is, he’s still a rookie. And he’s still a 6-foot-7 rookie playing shortstop, which no one has ever done. So there is going to be a lot of those growing pains. We have to highlight the things that are really good like that, but we also have to realize there’s going to be just general struggles of being a young player.”

Those struggles have been magnified by the hype surrounding Cruz, who started the season as the Pirates’ top prospect and No. 14 overall by Baseball America before his late-June callup. At his size, Cruz’s approach doesn’t necessarily help. After feasting on fastballs early, he sees very few nowadays. Where he’s hitting .262 against four-seam fastballs, .242 against sinkers and .200 against changeups, Cruz has averages of .119 against sliders and .043 against curveballs. So it’s no surprise he is being a fed steady of diet of breaking balls.

That hasn’t stopped Cruz from swinging.

“I’m an aggressive hitter,” Cruz said. “I try to hit any ball that’s near me, near my zone or try to hit it hard.”

If that sounds like someone who doesn’t know his strike zone, Cruz did little to clear that up. He talked about trying to find his hot zone, learning not to be too picky on pitches but was emphatic that he doesn’t want to change his aggressiveness.

“If anything, I want to be wiser when it comes to it,” Cruz said. “I don’t want to change my attitude.”

Shelton discussed the fine line of being too aggressive and too passive, believing Cruz is in-between. That’s part of the learning curve he faces only 52 games into his major-league career. It helps explain the off-balance swings, especially at pitches low and away.

“That’s something you learn, man,” Shelton said. “That’s something you learn by seeing pitching and continuing to build on your approach. Again, the challenge of being a young player. All guys go through it. That’s what we’re watching him go through right now.”

Pirates manager Derek Shelton on why 6-foot-7 rookie Oneil Cruz needs to establish a hitting zone. pic.twitter.com/FzVpPCUpQm

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) August 23, 2022

One thing Shelton emphasized was the difference between knowing the strike zone and establishing a hitting zone, and the need for Cruz to swing at pitches he can drive. If qualified, Cruz’s 45.2% hard-hit rate would rank somewhere around the 80th percentile of MLB hitters (his maximum exit velocity ranks in the 99th percentile).

Cruz emphasized that he’s learning a lot: about pitching sequences, the way he’s being attacked and what type of pitches he is facing. More than anything, he is learning how to deal with the growing pains of becoming a big-league hitter who can tap into his tremendous talent.

“I don’t think the growth ever ends,” Cruz said, “but this is an area where, most definitely, I’m noticing I’m being attacked with more breaking balls, and that’s an area I’ve got to continue working and growing in.”

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