Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz has been on the injured listing since present process left ankle surgical procedure in early April, which got here with an estimated restoration time of 4 months. That timeline has now elapsed nevertheless it doesn’t look like he’s near returning, which is beginning to put his season in jeopardy.
The membership’s director of sports activities drugs Todd Tomczyk offered an replace at the moment, with Justice delos Santos of MLB.com and Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Submit-Gazette relaying the main points. Tomczyk mentioned Cruz has “plateaued” and hasn’t been operating for the previous seven to 10 days, nonetheless battling some common soreness in his leg. Relating to the infielder’s possibilities of returning later within the yr, Tomczyk says “It’s powerful to inform proper now, however we’re operating out of days.”
Cruz, now 24, has flashed some elite instruments in his time within the majors whereas additionally showcasing some regarding parts in his sport. In 87 contests final yr, his exit velocities, arm power and dash velocity have been all at or close to the highest of the charts within the league. However he additionally struck out in 34.9% of his plate appearances and obtained combined evaluations for his shortstop protection, with one Defensive Run Saved however -9 Outs Above Common and a grade of -7.5 from Final Zone Score. Given his youth and relative inexperience, the Pirates have been absolutely hoping to offer him loads of reps within the majors so as to see how he developed, nevertheless it now seems that 2023 goes to go down as a largely misplaced season.
The younger shortstop performed 9 video games to open the yr however suffered a left ankle fracture when making an attempt to attain in a sport in opposition to the White Sox, colliding with catcher Seby Zavala. The information of his surgical procedure and anticipated absence have been a tricky blow, nevertheless it has lengthy been hoped that he may return and get some extra main league motion earlier than the winter arrived.
Now it’s trying much less and fewer possible that he’ll get that chance. Even when his leg ache all of the sudden evaporated within the subsequent week or so, he would nonetheless have to ramp up and go on a rehab task, efficient redoing Spring Coaching. Since that course of would take a couple of weeks and there’s simply over a month left on the schedule, it’s attainable that window will shut on him. That’s absolutely irritating for him on a private stage but in addition deprives the Pirates of one other likelihood to judge Cruz and his improvement earlier than the offseason, a course of that now appears to be getting kicked down the highway to subsequent yr.
The Bucs confirmed some flashes of rising from their rebuild earlier this yr however pale from competition and at the moment are 57-69. The Cruz state of affairs shall be a notable unknown going into subsequent yr, because it nonetheless hasn’t been decided whether or not he’s a viable massive league shortstop or if he could be higher served transferring to a different place. They’ve another choices on the roster however Cruz stays the one with the best ceiling, giving his apparent athleticism.
With Cruz out, the membership gave some vital shortstop time to gamers like Rodolfo Castro and Tucupita Marcano, however Castro has since been traded to the Phillies and Marcano is out for the yr resulting from ACL surgical procedure. Extra just lately, kids Alika Williams and Liover Peguero have been getting a while there. Williams is hitting .230/.309/.295 in a small pattern of 25 video games whereas Peguero has hit .241/.305/.437 in 28 main league contests, together with one final yr.
Each Williams and Peguero will nonetheless be optionable subsequent yr, so it’s attainable the Pirates may go into 2024 planning on having Cruz getting the common reps with these two behind him on the depth chart, both within the minors or on the bench on the main league stage. They might additionally complement that group with an offseason commerce or a signing, bringing in a veteran for some further safety. A sudden enchancment in Cruz’s well being within the subsequent few weeks may change issues nevertheless it looks like the Pirates will go into the winter primarily again to the place they have been firstly of the yr, with an unsure future outlook on the shortstop place.
