Pirates Q&A: Oneil Cruz Breakdown, Joey Bart a Trade Candidate?
Welcome back to another edition of our Pittsburgh Pirates Q&A. Let’s get to your questions.
Who ends with more home runs. Cruz or Griffin – James Smith
This year? Cruz. He already had a four-cushion lead and is tied for second in the National League in home runs to start the season. The 27-year-old looks primed to eclipse his season-high total of 21 set in 2024.
Griffin, meanwhile, it still looking for his first home run and is off to a slow start to begin his Pirates’ career. Is Griffin going to be a good big-league player? In all likelihood, yes. But will there be growing pains? Of course there will be and they’re present right now.
Cruz should finished with more home runs this year. But the conversation will get much more interesting in years to follow. Both players have serious raw power — Cruz has more. But both he and Griffin could be 30-home run threats for the Pirates over a full 162-game season.
Bart hasn’t been playing much , it’s only 7 games but is that a sign that he might be traded? – Jim Johnston
I don’t think the Pirates would just dump Bart as of yet. If it ever got to the point where Endy Rodríguez or Rafael Flores were clearly a better option behind the plate then yes, Pittsburgh could look to move him to clear a logjam at catcher.
But to start the season, the Pirates are simply playing the hotter and better option in Henry Davis. Offense continues to be a struggle but his defense remains impressive. Through the early portion of the season, Davis has a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage, one defensive run saved and has a 60% caught stealing rate.
Carrying four catchers on the 40-man roster can sometimes be tricky. But catching depth is a lot like starting pitching depth — you only have enough until you don’t. Considering Rodríguez’s injury history, having four catchers on the 40-man makes sense.
Cruz – Jeff Zankel
Jeff, I’m gonna be honest. I don’t know what you’re asking. So let me take this time to do a full breakdown on Oneil Cruz.
First, I am extremely impressed with the improvements he’s made against left-handed pitching and so are the Pirates. Manager Don Kelly credited Cruz’s work this offseason and his determination to stay in the middle of the field when facing southpaws, and so far it’s worked. Last season, Cruz went 11 for 108 with one home run and a .400 OPS against left-handed pitching. This year, he’s 7 for 11 with three home runs and a 2.091 OPS.
Now, Cruz is slumping against right-handed pitching but I’m confident he will improve there, just like I’m confident his stats against same-side pitching will come back to earth at some point. But I’m encouraged to see what he’s done at the plate this season and feel like this could be a breakout season. Strikeouts remain high but his approach has looked better.
Defensively, things are obviously rough. The center field experiment is still not working, but the Pirates don’t have a lot of other options. It’s easier to live with bad defense if he continues to be a force in the lineup, though.
Who’s the new owner of the Pirates and what did they do with Nuttings body? – Lynn and Jeff Minton
Ha! I think Nutting may have been visited by the ghosts of the Pirates’ past, present and future this offseason.
Seriously, Nutting deservedly gets plenty of flack as he should for how he’s operated as owner of the Pirates. But he deserves some credit for opening up the wallet some this winter and allowing Ben Cherington to field a much more competent team.
Should a statue be built for finally eclipsing a $100 million payroll? Of course not. But it’s a big step in the right direction and NEEDS to continue.
I have a feeling the upcoming CBA negotiations were part of the reason for increased spending, along with an actual desire to try and win for the first time in a long time.
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