PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Of all you saw from Oneil Cruz last year, the hardest hit ball in recorded Major League history, the hardest throw at nearly 100 mph. How about this nugget from Pirates bench coach Donnie Kelly on the Fan Morning Show on Monday?
“The great thing about him,” Kelly told 93.7 The Fan. “He wants to be coached.”
How refreshing in a day where the focus seems to be on the superstars that don’t. The ones that cause issues. Players that might rest on their natural given talent. That’s not Cruz.
“I want to be a unique player,” Cruz said following his 89-game rookie season. “I want to do the things no one else is doing. I want to be able to stand out. More than anything, I want to be dominant with who I am, a ballplayer and what I bring to the team.”
This is a guy who’s played in 89 MLB games. His numbers would pace to over 30 home runs and 100 RBI. That’s a low bar for the 24-year-old.
“I feel l can do even more,” Cruz said. “Many more home runs than 30, many more RBI than what you considered and more than anything, just a way better batting average.”
“He wants information,” Kelly told The Fan Morning Show. “He wants knowledge. He wants to get better and be great. The way he works and the way he prepares every day. As he continues to develop and grow and mature in his consistency. He’s going to be an unbelievable player.”
From the coaching standpoint, they give him similar information they show other players, but he’s not another player. As Kelly said he’s not prototypical. He’s never going to be a prototypical shortstop. No one has every played that position at his size. A 6’7” shortstop with not only the power, but the speed.
“No one has played the position at that size,” Cruz said. “He’s very agile and fluid. He’s athletic. Try not to put him in a box. We don’t want to put guys in boxes, be yourself.”
“He does things that others cannot do,” Kelly told The Fan Morning Show. “The talent is unbelievable.”
Rule changes
Of the MLB rule changes for this year, a veteran of nine seasons as a player, Kelly said of the one that will be hardest to get used to.
“The pitch clock,” Kelly told 93.7 The Fan. “Guys have gotten used to their routines and developed routines throughout the years. I think that will be the one adjustment they will have to make on the fly. I’m glad we are implementing this from day one of Spring Training so they have that month or so of Spring Training to get used to it.
The pace of play is going to be faster.”
Notes
· Kelly said 1B Carlos Santana came in great shape and looks good at first base. Could be Santana gets more starts in the infield than as the designed hitter even with Ji-Man Choi and Connor Joe as options to play first. Plus the position change, or at least working 3B Jared Triolo at first. The 25-year-old hit .282 with nine HR and 39 RBI with a .376 OBP and 24 stolen bases at AA Altoona last season.
· A number in competition for the open job at second base. Rudolfo Castro would appear to have the upper-hand after 11 HR with eight doubles and four triples in 71 games last season. Kelly says Ji Hwan Bae, Liover Peguero, Tucupita Marcano and Chris Owings are guys working at the position early in workouts.
· The veterans are taking early to their role as leaders. Kelly tells The Fan they don’t have to encourage them to help the younger players, it’s happening organically.