
It may not look like it yet, but the Pittsburgh Pirates could be going places in a couple of years.
A big part of their future, shortstop Oneil Cruz, already has almost a full season of MLB experience under his belt after being called up in June last year.
He started off slowly, as expected.
However, with each passing game, he started to show and develop his loud tools.
He broke the record for the hardest-hit ball in the Statcast era with a 122.4 mph laser for a single.
He runs the bases like the wind, and no infielder throws the ball to first harder than him.
“MLB Shortstop Arm Strength Leaderboard (via Savant) (average of top 5% of throws, 75+ throws): Oneil Cruz, 93.9 MPH; Willy Adames, 90.0 MPH; Jose Barrero, 89.6 MPH; Didi Gregorius, 88.9 MPH; Javier Báez, 88.7 MPH; Carlos Correa, 88.1 MPH,” Codify Baseball tweeted.
MLB Shortstop Arm Strength Leaderboard (via Savant)
(average of top 5% of throws, 75+ throws):Oneil Cruz, 93.9 MPH 🔥⛽️🔥
Willy Adames, 90.0 MPH
Jose Barrero, 89.6 MPH
Didi Gregorius, 88.9 MPH
Javier Báez, 88.7 MPH
Carlos Correa, 88.1 MPH pic.twitter.com/XWcIWX5YGR— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) January 16, 2023
Cruz is such a freak of nature that not only did he have the strongest throwing arm on average, but look at the gap between his 93.9 mph and the next-best player, Adames.
It’s almost four miles per hour, which is impressive.
Cruz could stand on the mound and be a dominant pitcher with a heavy fastball if he wanted, and if he had the command of course.
He is a beast, an uncommon appearance in MLB.
If Cruz can lower his strikeout percentage, he could develop into a 35-homer, 15-steals dynamo with game-changing skills.
He struck out in 34.9 percent of his plate appearances last year.
Even if he is in the high-20s, he could take the next step and dominate baseball for the next decade.
He oozes potential, and given the fact he showed improvements as he got his feet wet last year, it’s entirely possible he takes that step forward in his development.