\n","providerName":"Twitter","providerUrl":"https://twitter.com","thumbnail_url":null,"type":"oembed","width":550,"contentType":"rich"},{"__typename":"Markdown","content":"It may be the offseason, but Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz hasn’t stopped obliterating baseballs.\n\nCruz’s latest impressive display of power came during a softball game in the Dominican Republic, per a video shared on Twitter by reporter Héctor Gómez. In the clip, Cruz crushes a colossal home run to right-center field and takes the time to admire his work while slowly making his way up the first-base line.\n\nA native of Nizao, D.R., Cruz only has 89 games under his belt in the Majors, but he’s already made quite an impression, setting Statcast (since 2015) records for the hardest-hit ball and the hardest-thrown infield assist along with myriad additional feats that set the internet ablaze. \n\nThe 6-foot-7 24-year-old finished 2022 with a .233 average, 17 homers, 54 RBIs and a .744 OPS, including a .288/.359/.525 slash, six homers and 19 RBIs over 29 games in September/October.","type":"text"}],"relativeSiteUrl":"/news/oneil-cruz-hits-huge-home-run-in-dominican-republic-softball-game","contentType":"news","subHeadline":null,"summary":"It may be the offseason, but Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz hasn’t stopped obliterating baseballs.\nCruz’s latest impressive display of power came during a softball game in the Dominican Republic, per a video shared on Twitter by reporter Héctor Gómez. In the clip, Cruz crushes a colossal home run to right-center","tagline({\"formatString\":\"none\"})":null,"tags":[{"__typename":"InternalTag","slug":"storytype-article","title":"Article","type":"article"},{"__typename":"ContributorTag","slug":"thomas-harrigan","title":"Thomas Harrigan","type":"contributor"},{"__typename":"PersonTag","slug":"playerid-665833","title":"Oneil Cruz","person":{"__ref":"Person:665833"},"type":"player"},{"__typename":"TaxonomyTag","slug":"apple-news","title":"Apple News","type":"taxonomy"},{"__typename":"TaxonomyTag","slug":"offbeat","title":"offbeat","type":"taxonomy"},{"__typename":"TeamTag","slug":"teamid-134","title":"Pittsburgh Pirates","team":{"__ref":"Team:134"},"type":"team"}],"type":"story","thumbnail":"https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/upload/{formatInstructions}/mlb/tg3g37d9lepelcdynad5","title":"Oneil Cruz hits huge home run in Dominican Republic softball game"}},"Person:665833":{"__typename":"Person","id":665833},"Team:134":{"__typename":"Team","id":134}}}
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It may be the offseason, but Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz hasn’t stopped obliterating baseballs.
Cruz’s latest impressive display of power came during a softball game in the Dominican Republic, per a video shared on Twitter by reporter Héctor Gómez. In the clip, Cruz crushes a colossal home run to right-center field and takes the time to admire his work while slowly making his way up the first-base line.
A native of Nizao, D.R., Cruz only has 89 games under his belt in the Majors, but he’s already made quite an impression, setting Statcast (since 2015) records for the hardest-hit ball and the hardest-thrown infield assist along with myriad additional feats that set the internet ablaze.
The 6-foot-7 24-year-old finished 2022 with a .233 average, 17 homers, 54 RBIs and a .744 OPS, including a .288/.359/.525 slash, six homers and 19 RBIs over 29 games in September/October.