The Pittsburgh Pirates have something special in Oneil Cruz.
The young shortstop made his MLB debut at Busch Stadium in June last season and took off from there.
The 24-year-old showed off not only his extreme power, but also his ability to nab runners on bang-bang plays with his rocket of an arm that can throw the baseball up near 100 MPH.
On Friday, during a Grapefruit League game against the defending National League champion Philadelphia Phillies, Cruz showed off his power, hitting an absolute rocket to the opposite field that didn’t take long to clear the left field wall.
MLB posted a video of the moment on Twitter.
Manifesting a big 2023 for Oneil Cruz. 😤#SpringTraining pic.twitter.com/rratNuGihr
— MLB (@MLB) March 10, 2023
Cruz certainly didn’t miss this one.
He hit it right on the nose and drove it way out to deep left field for a home run.
Cruz’s incredible power is one of the more exciting aspects of his game.
He hit just .233 during the regular season, but did manage to crush 17 home runs.
He also had a .744 OPS.
And if this home run is any indication, the 24-year-old superstar is in for a big season in 2023.
This is a good sign for the Pirates, who are still in the midst of their rebuilding phase and are a few years away from contention.
But if Cruz continues to develop, he could be the key to the future of this team as they try to build a contender from within.
Pittsburgh lost 100 games in 2022 and finished tied with the Cincinnati Reds for last place in the NL Central.
NEXT: Pirates Manager Discusses The Development Of Oneil Cruz
