U mad, bro?: Oneil Cruz's move to CF and Steelers' 0-3 preseason have fans riled up

Two Pittsburgh topics dominated my social media interactions and my inbox this week:

• Concern over the Steelers 0-3 preseason.

• Oneil Cruz’s move to center field.

I assume Penguins fans will start fretting about Sidney Crosby’s lack of a contract extension soon enough. But today is not that day.

Here is “U mad, bro?” for this week.

Someone calling themselves “Brownsville Sports” fires the first shot on Oneil Cruz moving from shortstop to center field.

Early in the yr most media wanted him moved, now you are all complaining

— Brownsville sports (@BrownsvilleF) August 27, 2024

The headline on my column from Aug. 2 was: “Yes, Oneil Cruz’s errors are a problem. Want a bigger one? Move him to a new position in August”

The closing line of that column was, “Whatever the answer is, it’s not moving Oneil Cruz to a new position with 54 games to play in 2024.”

So … you were saying?

Why not play him now? What's the difference? Get him reps he's athletic athletes can play where you put them !!

— Brownsville sports (@BrownsvilleF) August 27, 2024

If they can “play anywhere you put them,” then how come he is struggling so much at short?

On Tuesday, I pointed out how quickly Pirates general manager Ben Cherington reversed course on his stance that Cruz was remaining as the Pirates’ shortstop. Rick took umbrage with me doing so.

He probably should have told the fans before he told the player and made it official. Excellent point here.

— Rick (@grimsleysbat) August 27, 2024

No, he just didn’t have to go out of his way to mislead. Excellent point here.

Oh, I didn’t realize he offered this information on his own. I thought he was asked a question. My bad.

— Rick (@grimsleysbat) August 27, 2024

Of course, he was asked the question, Rick. The guy had committed 23 errors at that point. But look at the quotes:

“All I can tell you right now is he’s our shortstop.”

“Until we’re ready to have that conversation, (there is) not much use getting further into it.”

“Still today, we have felt that what’s best for Oneil Cruz and what’s best for the Pirates were the same thing: play short. … It’s to our benefit, and we believe to Oneil Cruz’s benefit, to give it every chance to find that out.”

A week later he was moved.

Obviously, they had started having the conversation about moving him from shortstop within the organization or were at least dealing with internal doubts. So there was no reason to lie or oversell anything to the contrary.

I don’t want Cruz to play center field. If they are going to move him, make it right field or first base, or just have him hit. But not center field. Frankly, I prefer they just coach him up to become a better shortstop. Robert disagrees.

“You wrote: ‘If the Pirates could properly coach Cruz, they’d coach him to be better at his natural position.’ Problems with your position are legion, and include the following:

1. Anyone with eyes, let alone a sports writer, could see that Cruz would never become a major league SS. This was obvious to me more than 2 years ago, during his brief appearance at the end of the season.

2. Calling it his “natural position” is bizarre. Why is it his natural position? It was simply the position that he has always wanted to play, and, being the most talented player wherever he played until now, he got his way.

3. There is absolutely no indication that Cruz responds positively to coaching of any kind. In fact, just the opposite seems likely. Besides, how many times does a player, at the major OR minor league level, need coaching to teach him to run hard to first base, to catch pop-ups (Cruz has dropped at least two this year), to catch an easy DP toss from the pitcher, to avoid crashing into an outfielder 150 feet from the infield, etc. etc.

Indeed, a good case could be made that the Pirates made a big mistake with Cruz, but it was not failing to develop his skills at SS. It was allowing him to pick his position and not moving him in the minors to the outfield. Apparently, they made a half-hearted attempt, but more was needed.”

Robert:

1. Why was he never going to be a SS? Let me guess. Because he is “too tall,” right? If not his height, what else could you mean by that? His height has had nothing to do with his fielding issues. His height has nothing to do with an erratic arm. His height has nothing to do with ranging too far into left field. His height had nothing to do with dropping the double-play ball a week ago. That’s outdated, old guy, “the shortstop should be Pee Wee Reese-sized” thinking.

2. If SS isn’t his “natural position,” what is? If you are quibbling over the use of the word “natural” then try “familiar.” What’s the difference?

3. If Cruz “didn’t respond positively” to coaching at SS, what makes you think he will when he is forced to play a position he doesn’t want to play?

Also, did the Pirates make a “halfhearted attempt” previously? Or was the halfhearted attempt actually on Cruz’s end?

This person has a question about the Steelers’ wide receiver position.

Is it too early to welcome Kadarius Toney to the Pittsburgh Steelers?@TimBenzPGH @MarkKaboly pic.twitter.com/ILEXWD6yga

— P⭕tentialHuman (@PotentialHuman2) August 27, 2024

Maybe they should’ve brought back both JuJu Smith-Schuster and Martavis Bryant when they had the chance.

This guy is working very hard to find a silver lining to the Steelers’ 0-3 preseason.

“Disappointing so far, hope they figure it out over (the) next few weeks. Punter looks awesome.”

Indeed. If you’re walking away with the impression that the guy who has the job of giving the ball back to the other team is the best storyline of the preseason, then the regular season may be a tough 17-game stretch for you.

Finally, back to baseball, a person named @StSweeney1975 was mocking the Pirates for using Rowdy Tellez as a pitcher twice over the span of three games.

Tellez pitching again. Just a total disaster. Organization has no shame. Laughing stock of the league. Smdh

— JUCOPirates (@StSweeney1975) August 27, 2024

Indeed. We know how this organization is about pitch counts. Tellez may be nearing his limit. That said, he was better than Colin Holderman before they shut him down.

I can’t think of a greater juxtaposition in the world to indicate the Pirates’ place in the MLB ecosystem than to know that the Dodgers’ two-way star is Shohei Ohtani and the Pirates’ is … Tellez.

“I want to get out of here. Strike 1”@StoolBaseball pic.twitter.com/i6Ux1TAEU2

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) August 27, 2024

By the way, that umpire has to be either fined or guaranteed a World Series appointment for that. I’m not sure which.