Pirates Player Identified As ‘Outside The Box’ All-Star Candidate

If voters agree with one analyst, they’ll elect a rising Pittsburgh Pirates star to this year’s MLB All-Star Game.

The Pirates have not sent more than two players to the All-Star Game in a decade. That may not change this year, as Paul Skenes appears to be the team’s lone no-doubt selection. One can make a case for Dennis Santana, but the lineup also has an intriguing, if not unconventional choice.

MLB.com’s David Adler recently picked 12 “outside-the-box” All-Star candidates. The list includes some big names who have spent considerable time sidelined (Ronald Acuña Jr., Mike Trout, Corey Seager) and young phenoms (Junior Caminero, Jackson Holliday) poised to earn several All-Star nods throughout their career.

Oneil Cruz may fall into the latter category. Adler encouraged fans to look beyond the batting average, which stands at .223 as of Monday. After all, the dynamic 26-year-old has tallied 13 home runs with an MLB-leading 25 stolen bases.

Cruz also sports Statcast’s highest average exit velocity (96.6 mph) with MLB’s second-best hard-hit rate (59.9%) behind Shohei Ohtani. Adler noted that Cruz crushed the hardest contact of the Statcast era when scorching a home run at 122.9 mph last month.

“If the All-Star Game is a showcase of Major League Baseball’s best talent, Cruz is the type of player you want in it,” Adler wrote.

There probably wouldn’t be any room for Cruz if he were still playing shortstop. Francisco Lindor, Trea Turner, Mookie Betts, Elly De La Cruz, CJ Abrams, and Geraldo Perdomo give the National League a stacked field at the premium position.

However, Cruz has exclusively played center field this season. Per FanGraphs, his 2.1 WAR ranks sixth among all NL outfielders.

Cruz may not win a fan vote over the likes of Corbin Carroll, Fernando Tatis Jr., Kyle Tucker, Juan Soto and Pete Crow-Armstrong. That would place the onus on fellow players and the commissioner’s office to recognize Cruz’s loud skills despite his contact shortcomings.

More MLB: Pirates’ Paul Skenes Earns Approval, Praise Of Sports Icon