Oneil Cruz Stats & Scouting Report College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects

Publish date: 2024-05-02
Track Record: Cruz tests the imagination of evaluators and scouts alike. He first worked out for clubs as a 15-year-old amateur standing at 6-foot-1 in 2015 and signed with the Dodgers for $950,000, but he grew nearly six inches before making his pro debut the following year. The Dodgers traded him to the Pirates for Tony Watson at the 2017 trade deadline. Cruz has been something of a baseball unicorn since as a 6-foot-7 shortstop, inviting annual skepticism that, at some point, a position change is necessary. Yet the immensely talented Cruz continues to stave off such a decision. He spent most of 2021 manning shortstop at Double-A Altoona, where his .530 slugging percentage ranked ninth among all Double-A Northeast hitters with at least 200 plate appearances. Cruz missed nearly seven weeks with a forearm injury, but he made a brief stop in Triple-A after returning and was summoned to Pittsburgh in October. He dazzled in a two-game cameo, homering in his second game while also becoming the tallest starting shortstop in MLB history.

Scouting Report: Cruz boasts plus power, speed and throwing ability and has a legitimate chance to stick in the infield. He possesses otherworldly raw power, generating elite exit velocities with the leverage created by his long levers. Cruz already owns the Pirates’ record for exit velocity in the Statcast era—a 118.2 mph single in his debut—and is capable of producing 30-homer seasons at his peak. He’ll always battle strikeouts, and his swings and misses are sometimes exacerbated by his aggressive approach. He walked just 7.2% of the time with Altoona, and pitchers can exploit both the inherent length of his swing and his eagerness. There are times pitchers can catch Cruz guessing while hunting specific pitches, but he showed an ability to make adjustments in his approach within an at-bat. Cruz easily has a plus arm, but there is less consensus on where he should deploy it. The Pirates believe Cruz has the ingredients to stick at shortstop, citing his smooth hands and surprisingly deft infield actions. He will always face concerns about his range and ability to handle the demands of the position over a full season, but increased shifting could mitigate some of those worries. Some of his 16 errors came from rushing his throwing mechanics. Cruz is also a plus runner, leading to speculation about a long-term home in either center or right field, but he has yet to appear in the outfield outside of practice settings.

The Future: The Pirates will give Cruz a chance to win the starting shortstop job out of spring training. While he needs refinement, and the development of other players may ultimately dictate his position, Cruz has the highest impact potential of any player in the system and has one of baseball’s most dynamic skill sets.

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