Cruz (118 mph HR) blasts another Bucs mark

MILWAUKEE -- Oneil Cruz loves breaking Pirates records.

Cruz’s latest home run in the Bucs’ 7-5 walk-off loss to the Brewers on Monday night at American Family Field broke yet another Pittsburgh record.

“Everybody knows what he can do,” starter Bryse Wilson said after allowing three runs across three innings. “It’s a lot of fun to watch and it’s really nice seeing how much better his at-bats get [from] game to game. Just the way he’s seeing more pitches and cutting down on the swing and misses. It’s fun to watch.”

In the fifth inning, the 6-foot-7 shortstop stepped to the plate with runners on first and third and the Pirates trailing by two runs. Cruz then launched a Statcast-projected 437-foot, three-run, no-doubt homer to right field, landing in the second deck of the outfield bleachers.

“It feels great, especially because I’ve been putting a lot of work in,” Cruz said via interpreter Mike Gonzalez. “[I’ve] diligently put a lot of work in specifically for that. Just getting better at-bats, taking a better look at the pitch sequences and also just getting a better eye of the zone.”

That 437-foot deep ball was the longest of Cruz’s career, eclipsing his previous high of 434 feet. But it wasn’t the distance that made headlines, it was the speed. The home run missile came off Cruz’s bat at 118 mph, making it the hardest-hit homer in Pirates history since Statcast was introduced in 2015.

“He just keeps making strides forward,” manager Derek Shelton said. “If he hits the ball at that rate, that hard, he’s gonna be in a good spot.”

Cruz has had his share of ups and downs this season -- batting just .200 on the year. But his plate appearances against reigning National League Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes on Monday shows the confidence the rookie has at the plate.

Following his home run, Cruz rounded third base and shrugged his shoulders towards the Pirates’ dugout.

Why?

Because he called his shot and made sure to let his teammates know about it.

“I was talking to [pitcher Yerry] De Los Santos before my at-bat,” Cruz said. “And I said, ‘Man if I get to hit [Burnes] another time, I’m gonna hit it out.’ So right away when I hit the ball, I was looking for him in the dugout just to kind of signal like, ‘I told you.’”

That type of confidence showed up in all three of Cruz’s plate appearances against Burnes. The rookie saw 15 pitches from the Brewers' ace and managed to make contact with all three. Those balls (114 mph lineout, 113 mph groundout, and 118 mph homer) were three of the nine hardest-hit balls against Burnes in his career.

“It feels good, especially after there was a little bit of struggle in my at-bats,” Cruz said. “Being able to start making contact against pitchers at that caliber like Burnes, it feels great.”

That hard contact against Burnes is what Cruz has been doing all season against the Brewers. He has now gone deep in four of his past five games against the Crew and he became the first Pirate to go deep six times in a season against Milwaukee since Andrew McCutchen did it in 2013.

“He’s just lengthy,” Burnes said. “Big guy in the box and he can cover a lot of the plate. You got to be good with him and it’s tough to get ahead. When you get ahead of him, it’s a lot different AB than when you fall behind.”

Cruz has now broken three records in just 55 games this season. His 98 mph throw at shortstop on July 14 was Statcast’s fastest infield assist. His 122 mph single on Aug. 24 was the hardest hit since Statcast began, in addition to his 118 mph home run, which is the fifth-hardest homer this season.

“I think that’s the one thing that we can hang our hat on is when guys are taking good swings and they’re hitting the ball hard, that’s a really good thing,” Shelton said. “Now, if he hits a line drive at 113 [mph] right at the second baseman or a ground ball, then we just have to keep going. But definitely progress with him, good swings throughout the entire night.”