Cruz, 6-foot-6 at short, eyes big strides at AFL

It’s a conversation Oneil Cruz has had countless times in his time as a professional baseball player. At 6-foot-6, he stands out on any field he’s on, especially when he trots out to his natural position: shortstop.

“A lot of people ask me [about it], even players,” said Cruz, the Pirates’ No. 3 prospect and No. 58 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100. “Whenever I answer that I’m a shortstop, people say, ‘No, I can’t believe that.’

“People on the street will ask me if I play basketball or some other sport. I say, ‘No, I play baseball.’ Then they ask, ‘What position do you play?’ ‘I play shortstop.’ And people are shocked about it. I feel really confident about it.”

• Daily Pirates AFL Updates | Javelinas roster & stats | Pirates Top 30 prospects

Cruz, named after former Yankee Paul O’Neill, has brought that confidence to the Peoria Javelinas and the Arizona Fall League. He’s easy to spot, towering over 5-foot-8 coach Corey Wimberly, the Red Sox Minor League manager who coaches first for the Javelinas. He puts on a show during batting practice, a sign of the tremendous raw power he has that he’s just learning how to tap into, then shows holes in his swings in games that have led to 14 strikeouts in 26 at-bats. He’ll show extremely smooth actions going to the hole during infield drills, then will make a throwing error in the game. In other words, he’s like any young player trying to figure things out while moving quickly through a system.

“It’s an exciting moment, like getting called up an extra level, like Double-A or Triple-A,” Cruz said about coming to the AFL. “I’m just trying to make adjustments. The game speeds up a little bit like an extra level, better pitching. I’m just trying to make adjustments to make it to the big leagues.”

Cruz is no stranger to having to adjust to a new level. Though he doesn’t turn 21 until Friday, the Pirates were confident enough to move Cruz up from Class A Advanced Bradenton in the Florida State League to Double-A Altoona in the Eastern League after he hit .301/.345/.515 in 35 games. His numbers dipped to .269/.346/.412 in 35 games at the new level, and Cruz is continuing to work on refining his approach this fall so he can master that level in 2020.

“I was very excited about getting called up to Double-A because I didn’t expect any movement after the injury,” Cruz said.

The injury, a fractured right foot caused by a collision with a baserunner while playing shortstop, meant Cruz only was able to play 70 games all year, with the AFL giving him the chance to make up for some of those lost at-bats. It was the first trip to the injured list for the infielder, and it was a long two-month stay there. That can be tough for a young player, but Cruz was able to get through it and he was very happy to return to action.

“I got very frustrated because I didn’t expect to get injured.,” Cruz said. “When I got injured, a lot of people talked to me about it. I knew I needed to get better and get out of the injury because it’s 90 percent a mental game and I got very frustrated, but thankfully a lot of people helped me, I got out of it and did really well.”

Pirates hitters in the AFL

Jason Delay, C: The Pirates don’t have much in the way of catching depth in their system, but there is hope Delay, taken in the fourth round of the 2017 Draft as a senior out of Vanderbilt, can emerge. A solid backstop defensively, Delay was an Eastern League All-Star in 2019 and is getting more reps for Peoria in the AFL after appearing in just 67 games during the regular season.

Jared Oliva, OF (Pirates' No. 11 prospect): The seventh-round pick in the 2017 Draft from the University of Arizona had a solid year in Double-A, where he continued to show solid on-base skills (.352 OBP) and excellent speed (second year of 30-plus steals). He’s primarily been a center fielder, and he definitely could stay there, but he is also getting time in left this fall to improve his versatility and set him up to perhaps have an impact on Pittsburgh’s outfield in 2020.

Pirates pitchers in the AFL

Blake Cederlind, RHP (No. 28): The Pirates initially gave Cederlind the chance to start after taking him in the fifth round of the 2016 Draft out of Merced College, but a full-time move to the bullpen has been beneficial. Things really clicked for Cederlind this year, as he pitched his way across three levels, finishing at Triple-A Indianapolis. He touches triple digits, but he needs more consistent secondary stuff, which he’s working on this fall.

Nick Mears, RHP: It hasn’t exactly been a direct path to the AFL for Mears. He had Tommy John surgery in November 2015, forcing him to miss his freshman year of college. He pitched well for Sacramento City College, a two-year school, in 2017, and while he pitched in the summer Northwoods League in ’17 and ’18, he didn’t pitch for Sacramento during that second spring. The Pirates signed him as a undrafted free agent in August ’18, and he proceeded to pitch well across three levels in ’19, striking out 13.3 per nine innings along the way.

Beau Sulser, RHP: Sulser’s older brother, Cole, made his big league debut in 2019, and Beau is hoping to follow suit as a fellow Dartmouth product who makes it all the way up. Sulser signed as a 10th-rounder in 2017 for $5,000 and not only made the jump to Double-A in 2019, he was an Eastern League All-Star. He’s mostly relieved, though he did get the chance to make a few starts this year, and he started in his AFL debut.