Cruz working on defense, redeems himself vs. Rangers

PITTSBURGH -- On Friday, Oneil Cruz whiffed on a line drive up the middle, turning a base hit into a Little League triple. The error itself was tough to swallow, but human. What got under many’s skin was that after the error was made, Cruz didn’t chase after the ball, leaving right fielder Adam Frazier to retrieve Sam Haggerty’s hit.

Cruz would explain afterward that he thought Frazier was already backing him up, but that was not a good enough excuse for manager Don Kelly, who addressed it with Cruz in the dugout Friday.

“He went straight to the point,” Cruz told reporters before Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Rangers at PNC Park via interpreter and coach Stephen Morales. “But at the same time, he gave me the courage to continue the game and finish the game the way I did. I played hard.”

On Saturday, another ball got by another Pirate outfielder. In the third inning, Rangers catcher Kyle Higashioka hit a sinking liner that bounced in front of Frazier, now in left field, and ricocheted off his glove behind him. With the hit-and-run on, the miscue was guaranteed to result in a run as the ball rolled to the wall.

The damage was limited to just an extra base for Higashioka, though, because Cruz had covered the ground to back up Frazier. With one out in the inning, that extra base between having a runner on second or third is critical, and Mitch Keller escaped the jam, stranding Higashioka on base.

That unearned run ended up being the difference Saturday, as the Pirates lost to the Rangers. For those looking for a bigger picture outside of one game out of 162, seeing how Kelly handled Cruz and how the center fielder responded is at least a silver lining.

“We talked a lot about Oneil yesterday and him learning from the perceived mistake in the outfield -- and I think that he did,” Kelly said. “If you go back and watch that play, if he waited until that ball got past Frazier, Higashioka is probably on third base. He started going right away, backed him up and held Higashioka to a double. In that moment, which could’ve been a big run [if] they ended up getting two there. Frazier got a little bit too close to it, was in-between probably diving. Oneil hustling there to back it up, a really great play there.”

The Cruz outfield experiment has had bumps in the road, including Friday, but the overall results have been encouraging. After a rough start to the season, Cruz has been worth three Outs Above Average since the beginning of May, second on the team behind Ke’Bryan Hayes. Cruz has elite speed and the strongest throwing arm among position players – averaging 97.9 mph on his hardest throws this year – so he has the potential to be a great defender, too.

That’s a big reason for the concern about Friday’s play because the effort is controllable. There are quotes in the nameplates of the empty lockers in the Pirates clubhouse, including one from Hall of Fame manager Jim Leyland: “You’re not always going to be at your best. But it better be the best you’ve got that day.”

That was not the case in the first inning Friday for Cruz, an out of character moment from a player who has that desire to be great.

“I want to go out there and try to project myself in front of people who maybe have never seen me play before,” Cruz said in an interview with MLB.com earlier this month. “I want to leave a good impression when they go home. That’s the way I want to be every night.”

Kelly pointed out postgame Friday that Cruz played hard the rest of the game after his first-inning miscue. He did so again Saturday, going 1-for-3 with a stolen base and RBI. Time will tell if that conversation and Cruz’s response will get the leadoff hitter going again.