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Friday night Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Oneil Cruz returned to the lineup for Double-A Altoona and collected three hits, including a pair of doubles
Shortstop Oneil Cruz has as high a ceiling as a power hitter as anyone in the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system. While Cruz’s prospect status had slipped some prior to the start of the 2021 season, he still has a 40 future value game power and 70 future value raw power via FanGraphs.
Cruz’s performance this season is also one that could lead to him climbing back up prospect boards this offseason. Across 195 plate appearances in 44 games played at the Double-A level Cruz has hit for a .298/.356/.551 slash line to go with a 142 wRC+.
The power has been on full display as Cruz has posted an isolated slugging (ISO) of .254. He’s hit 9 home runs and has collected extra base hits at a 12.3% rate. Seeing the power from Cruz has been a great sign.
Another good sign from Cruz has been his contact. The hit tool has always been a big question for Cruz but hitting .298 gives Cruz the second highest batting average of his professional career. Most encouraging to see is his 23.1% strikeout rate. While that is still a tick higher than you would like to see, it is the second lowest of his professional career. Strikeouts have always been a big issue for Cruz, but thus far this season strikeouts have not been nearly as problematic.
Friday night Cruz was in the lineup for Double-A Altoona for the first time since June 30. This was due to Cruz being on the injured list as a result of a forearm strain. Cruz would return to the lineup in a big way.
Cruz went 3-for-5 for Altoona on Friday night. This included collecting a pair of doubles, giving him 12 on the season. He drove in 3 runs in the Curve victory and scored 3 runs for Altoona as well. He did, however, strikeout twice. Cruz was then out of the Curve lineup on Saturday night.
For the Pittsburgh Pirates the hope has got to be that Cruz finishes the 2021 season strong and sets himself up to begin the 2022 season at Triple-A Indianapolis. While Cruz’s primary position is shortstop he has played some outfield this season as well. If Cruz continues to hit anywhere near the way he has all season down the stretch, and then repeats that with Indy next season he should join the Pirate lineup in some fashion during the 2022 season.