Pittsburgh Pirates: Checking In On Omar Cruz

The Pittsburgh Pirates are in full rebuild mode and as a result made some moves this past offseason. They got left-handed starting pitching prospect back, how is he performing?

With Ben Cherington at the helm, it was clear that the Pittsburgh Pirates were going to place an added emphasis on the farm system and player development. As part of improving the farm system, the Pirates moved on from established big leaguers, one being Joe Musgrove. The headliner of the Musgrove deal might’ve been Hudson Head, but they also got an interesting left-handed starter.

Omar Cruz doesn’t have an overpowering fastball but does have the command to make up for it. He also has an over the top curveball that he can use for both swing-and-miss and to get strikes. While he is not a household prospect, he is one the Pirates clearly thought highly of. The 22 year-old started the season in High A, where he posted a 3.45 ERA with a 32.2 percent strikeout rate.

This success led to a promotion to Double-A Altoona. In nine starts he has thrown 46 innings. In those 46 innings he has posted a 3.33 ERA and 3.70 FIP. His strike outs are down, just 19.4 percent, but he has improved his command from a 11.9 percent walk rate to 7.3 percent. That’s a big improvement, especially for a pitcher that doesn’t have overpowering stuff and relies on movement and command.

Cruz is the Pirates second top left-handed pitching prospect behind only Anthony Solometo. He will be rule five eligible this offseason but his success in Double-A is encouraging. If he continues to pitch well, he is likely to start 2022 in Triple-A Indianapolis and serve as valuable depth to the Pittsburgh Pirates. While Hudson Head might’ve been the headline and David Bednar a Major League ready pitcher, Omar Cruz is an under the radar starting pitching prospect that has pitched well.