Oneil moonlighting as softball slugger

November 14th, 2022

It may be the offseason, but Pirates shortstop  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.