Perrotto: Oneil Cruz Gets Lesson in Respecting the Game

PITTSBURGH – Don Kelly used the phrase multiple times.

“Respect the game,” the Pittsburgh Pirates manager said Saturday during his pre-game media session.

Kelly respected the game during his time as a major-league player from 2007-16. A player with limited ability doesn’t forge a career as a utility player that long without respecting the game and doing things the right way.

Conversely, few players in the big leagues today have more raw talent than Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz. He hits the ball as hard as any player, and his speed and arm strength are also at the top of the charts.

Cruz doesn’t always respect the game, though. His effort level is uneven.

At times, it takes Cruz forever to get from the dugout to his position in center field or vice versa. A PNC Park press box wag timed Cruz walking from center field to the dugout at the end of an inning during a game earlier this month and clocked him at one minute and 36 seconds.

Now, I’m not going to sound like an angry old man and say that players should give 110 percent effort all the time. For one thing, it’s physically impossible to play above 100 percent. Secondly, in today’s world of load management and days off, athletes in professional sports aren’t encouraged to always play at full throttle.

The days of Pete Rose running to first base after drawing a walk and making headfirst dives into bases are over. As someone who was raised in the church of old-school baseball, it is hard to accept but it’s a fact.

Nevertheless, what Cruz did Friday night in the Pirates’ 6-2 loss to the Texas Rangers was unacceptable, regardless of the era.

After Josh Smith led off the game with a single, Sam Haggerty hit a sharp single into center field. The ball got past Cruz for an error. Smith wound scoring on the play and Haggerty made it to third base.

That Cruz misplayed the ball wasn’t a big deal. Players make fielding errors all the time, and Cruz whiffed on the play. It happens.

However, Cruz’s reaction was inexcusable. He stood and pouted while right fielder Adam Frazier sprinted to retrieve the ball just before it reached the warning track.

Oneil Cruz yikes… pic.twitter.com/vTGSjLc0QC

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 20, 2025

It was Frazier’s responsibility to back up the play, and he did. However, Cruz embarrassed himself by not trying to chase the ball down.

Cruz addressed the play on Saturday before the Pirates lost to the Rangers 3-2.

“It was just a hard line drive right at me,” Cruz said through translator Stephen Morales. “I think I trusted myself too much, and it just went by me. I made a mistake. On that situation, I knew I missed the ball, and I thought that Frazier, because outfielders are supposed to back each other, I thought Frazier was closer to me. When I saw him, then I tried to go, he was closer to the ball already. That’s why I stayed put.”

Cruz is still learning to play center field after being moved from shortstop late last season. He has played 84 games in center, just a little over a half-season’s worth of games.

Ten years ago, Cruz would have been taken out of the game by many managers or at least benched the following day. However, it’s a different time now, driven by the players.

Kelly did not discipline Cruz, though he did convey the need to respect the game in a conversation.

“It’s always good to have a manager like DK,” Cruz said. “He pulled me to the side, and he went straight to the point. But at the same time, he gave me the courage to continue the game and finish the game the way I did. I played hard.”

The message got through. When a ball got past Frazier, who was playing left field, on Saturday, Cruz sprinted from center field to back up the play.

That’s respecting the game.

This has not been a banner weekend for the Pittsburgh Pirates defense pic.twitter.com/a30oQsvWJM

— kennedi landry (@kennlandry) June 21, 2025