PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – The way the Pirates are working with Oneil Cruz during his struggles is not to break him down, rather trying to stay positive with the 25-year-old shortstop with so many expectations around him.
“I think the one thing we all know about Oneil is he's got the infectious personality, that infectious smile,” said Pirates manager Derek Shelton. “We just have to make sure that comes out. The other day I told him, 'I don't think I've seen your teeth in a while, like let's go.
Have some fun’.”
Hasn’t been a lot to smile about and Cruz said after the game on Sunday that he’s struggling with his confidence. The Bucs shortstop leads the majors in strikeouts and is hitting .181 with three extra base hits in April.
“You stay positive with him,” Shelton said. “He's a young kid. This kid hasn't played a full season in the big leagues. He's played 125 games or 130 games.
It's just staying positive with him because you're going to go through tough stretches.”
He was in the lineup on Monday and Pirates GM Ben Cherington said they will continue to allow him to work through it because they believe he is going to break out of it. When he does, he will be a major impact for them.
“Then he's gonna carry us for a month and everybody's gonna forget about the games where he's struggled,” Shelton said. “It's just making sure that he stays in that positive frame of mind. I think it goes back to Martin's (Perez) comment (about the team having bad body language) and make sure that we monitor all those things.
McCutchen leadoff
For the first time this season, the Pirates moved Andrew McCutchen to the leadoff spot, a day after trying Connor Joe first in the lineup.
“I think right now with the fact that we moved Cruzy down and Connor’s not in there, we’re just kinda mixing and matching a little bit,” Shelton explained. “I think the biggest thing is Cutch can handle it. The conversation with him was like, ‘Hey, we’re gonna mix it up a little bit today and you’re gonna hit up there.’ We all know he can control the zone and he can control at-bats. Right now, when you’re going through a tough stretch offensively, it’s nice to have that veteran up there that’s gonna be able to control it a little bit.”
Davis returns
Following a few days where Joey Bart started behind the plate, 2021 first-round pick Henry Davis caught in the series opener against the Brewers. Shelton said it wasn’t as much to give Davis, who is hitting .182 with a .236 slugging percentage, time off, but to give Bart opportunities to play.
Alika like
With the team struggling, there are potentially more opportunities for usual bench players Alika Williams and Edward Olivares, and they are earned.
Williams starting at second base on Monday is eight for his first 23 at bats with a double and two triples and a .400 on-base percentage. Olivares, not in the starting lineup Monday, is tied for the team lead with three home runs in only 51 at bats.
Fun through pain
Pirates pitcher Martin Perez pointed to bad body language as an issue with the team during a six-game losing streak and it’s not just Cruz, Davis and others struggling. What is Shelton doing to try to get his team to have more fun?
“Awareness amongst them as a group, I think, is the most important thing,” Shelton said. “When players start to talk about it, they realize it amongst themselves, individually, and they realize it amongst their teammates. Losing six games in a row is not fun, so we have to figure out within that group how to control these different things. The other thing is we have 140 games left to play, too. I think we, as a group collectively, we have to remember that also.”