Oneil Cruz flashes Gold Glove potential for Pirates during center field first impression

The Pittsburgh Pirates made the decision to move Oneil Cruz to center field late in the year year. A shortstop nearly his entire professional career, Cruz had just 81 innings in the outfield heading into this season -- and even that was in left field, not center. But while the change concerned many, Cruz’s defense in center wasn’t just solid. In fact, he showed off traits of a potential future Gold Glove winner.

Cruz was moved off of shortstop because of his poor defense. He committed 24 errors in just 958.1 innings at the position. Errors are far from the best way to evaluate a player’s defensive ability, but Cruz wasn’t put in high esteem by other defensive metrics, either. He had -9 defensive runs saved and -3 outs above average at shortstop. Most of his value came from his arm; Cruz was able to make the deepest of throws from in the hole, as well as successfully converting many outfield relays. He also had plenty of range, ranking in the 88th percentile of sprint speed.

Since moving to center field, Cruz has still reflected poorly in DRS (-3). Outs above average, however, views him in a much more positive light, pinning him at +2 OAA. Of course, Cruz’s powerful arm has translated very well. His throws from center field averaged 99.1 MPH. That is by far the fastest average throw velocity from any position player, with Nolan Jones of the Colorado Rockies coming in second place at 97.1 MPH. Baseball Savant began tracking average arm velocity for position players in 2020, and Cruz’s center field work ranks the best among all surveyed, again with Jones coming in in second place at 98.3 MPH last season.

Oneil Cruz's arm strength has translated very well to center field for Pirates

Cruz has also shown some Gold Glove-caliber attributes that aren’t strictly depicted in DRS or OAA. Cruz finished the season with the game's second-best jump, which is the average amount of feet covered in the first three seconds of a batted ball hit to an outfielder. Cruz covered 38.5 feet on average during his jump. Only one other player this year averaged more, and that was Jacob Young, who averaged 38.8 feet. He ended the season with +11 DRS and +21 OAA.

Cruz’s route running was also above average at +0.4. That ranked as the 25th-best in baseball. He was on par with known defensive wizards like Byron Buxton and his own teammate Michael A. Taylor, and ranked above other defensive stalwarts like Steven Kwan, Julio Rodriguez, and Daulton Varsho. All five names were above the 80th percentile of outs above average.

According to catch probability, Cruz made a ton of unlikely snags. A four-star catch is any batted ball with a catch probability between 26-50%. A five-star catch has a catch probability of 25% or lower. Cruz had six 4+ star catch opportunities. Of those six chances, Cruz came through with the out four times. 

Yes, it is a small sample size, but put it in perspective like this: Byron Buxton in 2017 has the most OAA in a single season since the stat was created. He only made 22 of 40 4+ star catch opportunities. Mookie Betts also has the most DRS in a single season since catch probability started to be tracked in 2016. He only made 20 of 48 4+ star catch opportunities in 2017, as well as only 12 of 43 4+ star catch opportunities in 2016. In both years, Betts had +30 DRS.

Cruz may have just moved to center field as a professional, but his first impression could not have gone better. He gets jumps on fly balls better than nearly every other outfielder, runs solid routes, and has the best arm by a fair margin. Imagine what his defense will look like once he gets more accustomed to his new position? There’s certainly the potential for a Gold Glove center fielder in Oneil Cruz next year.