Pirates, Oneil Cruz Sticking To Position Change Despite Struggles

Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz tempted fate Saturday.

Cruz, who recently made the transition from shortstop to center field, was bold enough to claim the move hadn’t been challenging early on, despite the fact he entered that afternoon with minus-one defensive runs saved and two throwing errors in a dozen games.

“I haven’t had anything that’s been really challenging for me out there,” Cruz said through translator Stephen Morales, per John Perrotto of Pittsburg Baseball Now. “Everything has been going really good. I’m just playing the game every day.”

Can you guess what happened next?

Cruz dove for an Adam Frazier line drive that got past him and allowed Frazier to end up with a triple and later score. He then misplayed a deep fly ball from Bobby Witt Jr. and originally was charged with an error before the official scorer reversed the call to an RBI double. The Kansas City Royals walked away with a 5-1 victory.

“I think when we moved him out there, we said there’s going to be bumps in the road and I think we saw a little bit of it today,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said, per Perrotto. “Unfortunately, a couple of plays that ended up resulting in runs. It’s going to be a situation where there’s plays that he’s got to learn how to make.

“… There was no time that I saw a bad attitude with it, though. I think he’s accepted that that’s where he’s at. He’s been working on it. Again, there’s going to be plays he has to learn how to make, and that’s where we’re at right now. And that’s what happens when you take a middle infielder and put him in center field.”

It isn’t all bad for Cruz, though. He feels like the switch has allowed for better offensive production.

“I’m good in center field now. I’m not coming back to shortstop,” Cruz said. “I feel like out there I feel comfortable now. I feel like I’ve got more space and more mental peace to focus on my offense.”

The Pirates will ultimately have to live with the decision, whether it works out or not. Pittsburgh is currently seeing the downside of making such a drastic position switch, though.

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