Mackey's mailbag: Handling Oneil Cruz, plan at shortstop, next for Paul Skenes and more

NEW YORK — Happy Friday, Pirates fans. Opening Day was tough, but the great thing about baseball, there's always another one soon. Before we turn our attention to Saturday, though, we had some intense reactions to Thursday. Let's address them. Future questions? Hit me up at Jason.Mackey@pirates.com.

Jim Rosati (@northsiden0tch): Jason, what are we gonna do with Oneil Cruz?

Buck (@Ebuck_67): Is the Pirates' season over?

Craze Z (@Craigles42): Why not play Jake Mangum every day in center field and platoon Oneil Cruz and Marcell Ozuna at designated hitter?

Run-PNC (@SchwarBurgh): Do you think the Pirates should try Cruz at third base?

JoshuaShaw (@JoshuaS14993037): Is it out of the question to decide Cruz isn’t an every-day starter?

Eric (@BassDrop412): Would it be wrong to move Cruz back to shortstop and let Konnor Griffin play third or outfield?

zdubz (@WWZ2k): What return could we get if we trade Cruz now?

Jason Mackey: OK, while I appreciate the questions and the passion, take a deep breath. It’ll be OK.

Now, let’s try to soberly work through some of the frustration:

• The season isn’t over. There are 161 games left. They can make up the necessary ground. I promise.

• No, I don’t think the Pirates should try Cruz at third base. For multiple reasons. One, the future left-side-of-the-infield plan includes Konnor Griffin in some capacity. If Jared Triolo can hit, you have Gold Glove-caliber defense at two spots. Also, Cruz has never played third base. He did play shortstop and didn’t do it terribly well, hence the move to center field. Why should we think it’ll be better at third?

• Allow me to reiterate something: It’s only been one game.

• They’re not going to play Mangum every day, at least not yet, because they need to find out once and for all what they have in Cruz. Mangum will still play a decent amount, often as a defensive replacement. Also, it’s been one game.

• It would be wrong to move Cruz to shortstop, yes. Griffin won a Minor League Gold Glove there. Moving him to third essentially displaces two players, unless you think Cruz will suddenly be solid defensively at third. I have my doubts.

Bottom line, again, it’s been one game. If we’re sitting here after six weeks or two months and Cruz is lousy defensively and isn’t hitting, react away. They need more than a sub-.700 OPS and bad defense from that spot.

I also don’t think the Pirates will allow that. If Cruz doesn’t add value, they’ll find someone who will. That could be Mangum or a number of other options. But you have to let it play out more.

HeintschelBurgh (@pittfan26): Who do you think has a more clear future in the rotation, Ashcraft or Mlodzinski?

Jason Mackey: Good question. At this point, I’d probably go Ashcraft, simply because he’s fared better as a starter. Whether it’s arm slot, pitch usage or something else, hitters seem to see something different with Mlodzinski the third time through.

That said, I’m interested in Mlodzinski this season. That splitter is a game-changer for him. Between that and a pretty solid curveball, he has the weapons. If he’s able to consistently execute them, he could stick as a starter.

Jonathan Hooke (@JonathanwHooke): Do you think Skenes will pitch again before Wednesday after yesterday’s outing?

Jason Mackey: No. Next time you’ll see him is Wednesday.

Freddiecrush (@freddiecrush): Did the team ever have a plan at shortstop? Do they have a plan now?

Jason Mackey: Yes, Griffin. Long-term, I have zero issue with their plan, but I understand questions about the present.

Does Jared Triolo add more value at third? (He might.)

With their other defensive questions, would the Pirates be better served prioritizing defense with Alika Williams? (They might.)

But if Nick Gonzales or Nick Yorke can add some offense at third base, it probably makes this interim period before Griffin’s ready easier to navigate.

Dan T (@DTurko): Was command an issue in Spring Training with pitchers? Can it be pinned on poor execution early in the season or are there broader changes in the pitching philosophy with the new staff that could lead to early struggles?

Jason Mackey: Some command issues in spring … but not a ton.

Pirates pitchers walked 4.41 per nine innings during Grapefruit League play, eighth-most in MLB. Higher than you want, obviously. But it’s also Spring Training. Brandon Lowe wasn’t very good in Florida. See how much that mattered.

They’re also not doing anything discernibly different that would cause nine walks plus a hit batter. They simply didn’t pitch well Thursday.

Skenes wasn’t at his best. Isaac Mattson and Justin Lawrence both looked off compared to how well they performed in spring. I really think it was one bad game, not a trend.

Coach T (@Ryan_Greg16): Why did they sign Ozuna over Andrew McCutchen? Cutch is seeing bowling balls right now.

Jason Mackey: They signed Ozuna over McCutchen because they think the top-end power potential with Ozuna is higher. And I’m not sure they’re wrong.

Ozuna 2023-25: 9.4 bWAR, 100 home runs, .867 OPS, 138 OPS+ (100 is league average)

McCutchen 2023-25: 2.4 bWAR, 45 home runs, .736 OPS, 104 OPS+

McCutchen has played well. Happy for him. But I didn’t question the move then, and I’m not going to start now based on one 0-for-4 day for Ozuna. He’ll be fine.

I don’t expect Ozuna’s ’24 level (39 home runs, .925 OPS) of production, but I think when it’s all said and done, he’ll contribute far more to this team than McCutchen would have.

Dave Thomas (@djthomas73): Looks like Don Kelly was alternating left, right. Why not switch Lowe and Reynolds?

Jason Mackey: I’d rather Lowe hitting in the No. 2 spot with Cruz (theoretically) on first. Creates a bigger hole on the left side.

Also, got a question about Triolo hitting sixth. It staggers lefties in Ryan O’Hearn and Spencer Horwitz.

joshuaXO (@joshuax0): The Pirates knew since last summer they needed a real third-base option. Why didn’t they actually secure one?

Jason Mackey: I think they could have some real third-base options. And if you’re referencing specifically to adding Ozuna over several offseason dalliances, I can explain.

Let me start here, though: If the bulk of your season involves Griffin at short and Triolo at third, I’m fine with that. Allows them to spend free agent dollars differently. And we could get Griffin and Triolo for a lot of the year.

Over his final 52 games last year, Triolo hit .276 with a .775 OPS. If that turns out to be real and you combine it with Gold Glove defense, excellent.

I can also understand giving Tyler Callahan a shot. Risk was minimal. They didn’t give up a ton (Kyle Nicolas). Maybe he grows into some of that power potential. We’ll see.

They looked at it as moves to improve their overall offense. The Ozuna fit isn’t great, but he’ll help them score more runs.

The Pirates also had interest in a few previous hitters; it’s just that nothing landed. That happens. Overall, though, they fixed the offense enough to make the team better. That was the goal.

PB (@mrpbody9): Does this game already have the team rethinking the bullpen? What kind of leash do you give the guys in the ‘pen before swapping some of the guys down in Indy?

Jason Mackey: They’re not retaining anything in the bullpen based on one game.

Mason Montgomery needs to throw more strikes. Yohan Ramirez did a nice job giving the Pirates a chance to get back into it. Gregory Soto pitched well. But it’s one game. Nothing more, nothing less.

Buccos of The West (@BuccosOfTheWest): Who on this team would make the best real pirate and why?

Jason Mackey: We all need a laugh, right? I’ll go Mlodzinski. Long hair, rocks a bandana, strikes me as someone who would thrive living on a boat.

I considered Skenes because of his persona. I also learned there are several Pittsburgh Pirates who have names with real pirate cache, so that’s fine: Joey Bart (Bartholomew Roberts or Black Bart), Henry Davis (Henry Morgan) and Billy Cook (William or Captain Kidd).

No, the Pirates aren't trying any of them in center field over Oneil Cruz, either.

Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH.