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Pittsburgh Pirates: Three Extremely Bold Predictions For 2022
By Noah Wright
Bolder: Roansy Contreras and Oneil Cruz Finish no. 1 and no. 2 In NL ROY Voting
You know what’s better than one Rookie of the Year candidate? Two National League Rookie of the Year candidates. The Pittsburgh Pirates have two in Roansy Contreras and Oneil Cruz. Both made their debuts last season after making significant strides to their game throughout the 2021 season, and both will look to receive regular playing time by the time May rolls around.
Cruz and Contreras are already two players who are projected to at least receive some votes. So what makes me think that one will win the award and the other will come in second place? Last year, Cruz made massive strides in his game, posting his best single-season minor league OPS with the Pirates by over .130 points, walk rate by over 1%, and nearly matched his career-best strikeout rate.
When Cruz arrived in the majors, he had one of the hardest-hit batted balls from any player in the entire season and hit a home run at least 400 feet on a change-up that made him go down on one knee. While that’s just two instances of showing off his immense raw power, everything he did in 2021 was a trend upward. Not to mention he did all of this after going through the mental turmoil that the 2020-2021 off-season brought to Cruz.
The Pirates acquired Contreras in the 2020-2021 off-season as part of the Jameson Taillon trade. The former Yankees farmhand also made massive strides in his ability. When the Pirates acquired him, Contreras was only hitting 90-94 MPH with his four-seamer in 2019. In 2021, he was averaging out around 96-98 MPH. With plus spin on his fastball, a sharp breaking ball, and an above-average change-up, he has two pitches that could easily be 60-grade offerings and a third 55 offering.
Cruz and Contreras won’t be the only ones considered potential Rookie of the Year candidates next season, but I don’t see how they can’t be potential favorites to win the award. Now I understand temper expectations for young players like this. They’re not all going to come out of the gates on fire, but I can’t help but be excited to watch a guy who has arguably the best power in the minor leagues or the pitcher with three-to-four plus-to-plus-plus offerings next season.