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Pirates make surprising change to Oneil Cruz’s role

Oneil Cruz in a Pirates uniform

Oct 2, 2021; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz (61) takes the field to warm up before making his major league debut against the Cincinnati Reds at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The Pittsburgh Pirates are making a big change regarding highly-touted young shortstop Oneil Cruz.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton announced Monday that Cruz will see time in center field for the remainder of the season. Cruz has never played the position during his professional career, but the Pirates are clearly checking out some of their options as their season winds down.

Cruz came up as an infielder and has played shortstop almost exclusively at the MLB level. While he has an outstanding throwing arm, his fielding metrics are relatively poor, and a 6’7″ shortstop always felt like an odd fit. An outfielder that size is also quite unusual, but defensively, he might work better out there.

Cruz is hitting .265 with 18 home runs and 17 stolen bases on the season. The Pirates will want that bat in the lineup, so they will do some positional juggling to make it happen.

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