PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – The Pirates believe in Oneil Cruz.
After a bad series against the Astros, Cruz is in the lineup on Friday night. Pirates Manager Derek Shelton has Cruz batting 3rd at short stop.
Cruz had a very rough game on Wednesday, committing three errors. He had five total errors during the series with nine strikeouts. But before Friday’s game, Shelton defended Cruz, saying they wouldn’t win the last game in Arizona if it wasn’t for him.
“The thing that really impressed me the most about Oneil is, he had two really tough innings, he’ll be the first person to tell you that,” said Shelton. “He made three plays after that that were really good plays and I think what that shows you is he has the ability to move on, he has ability to continue to play.”
Shelton adds if Cruz would’ve given up after the errors, it would’ve been a different story.
“We just continue to support him,” Shelton said Friday. “We realize, at some point everybody in their job has a span of time where it doesn’t go well. He had a couple of bad innings.”