Latest / Bucco Territory: A Pittsburgh Pirates Podcast / Is 2026 a make or break year for Oneil Cruz?

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Is 2026 a make or break year for Oneil Cruz? · Bucco Territory: A Pittsburgh Pirates Podcast

0:09
Speaker 1: What's up, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of Bucco Territory,
0:12
Speaker 1: presented to you by the File Territory Network. My name
0:14
Speaker 1: is Noah Hiles, and joining me as always are my
0:17
Speaker 1: co host Josh Harrison akaj Hay and platinum Key aka Mark.
0:21
Speaker 1: You're watching this on a Monday, and you might be
0:23
Speaker 1: wondering why, and that's because from now until the end
0:26
Speaker 1: of the regular season, we will be doing three shows
0:29
Speaker 1: a week here on Bucco Territory, coming out every Monday, Wednesday,
0:33
Speaker 1: and Friday. There's also gonna be a little bit of
0:35
Speaker 1: a different structure now that the off season is over,
0:38
Speaker 1: we're into the full swing of spring training and opening
0:40
Speaker 1: Day is less than a month away. We're gonna have
0:43
Speaker 1: different segments, So for our Monday shows, at least for
0:46
Speaker 1: the foreseeable future, it's gonna be broken up a little differently.
0:49
Speaker 1: For today's show, we're gonna have a new intro segment
0:52
Speaker 1: called Key of the Week, and that's where our boy
0:54
Speaker 1: platinum Key, it's on a storyliner topic that he's focusing
0:59
Speaker 1: on heading into new week of Pirates. Baseball around the
1:02
Speaker 1: World will be a segment we use every episode throughout
1:07
Speaker 1: the entire World Baseball Classic to talk about the international
1:11
Speaker 1: tournament that's about to take place it's also starting this week.
1:14
Speaker 1: And then All Hands on Deck is just a traditional
1:17
Speaker 1: segment that we will talk about to close out the show,
1:20
Speaker 1: just something all three of us can discuss. This week's
1:23
Speaker 1: All Hands on Deck will be about Oeo Cruz. But
1:25
Speaker 1: before we get into all of that, like I said,
1:28
Speaker 1: Platinum Key's going to start us off with his key
1:32
Speaker 1: of the week mark, what are you watching this week?
1:34
Speaker 2: Yeah?
1:35
Speaker 3: So MLB Network was interviewing Don Kelly earlier this week
1:39
Speaker 3: and they asked him what had surprised him most or
1:42
Speaker 3: what's standing out to him so far in spring training?
1:45
Speaker 3: And my Key of the Week this week is going
1:48
Speaker 3: to mimic him there. It's the position battle between Nick
1:51
Speaker 3: and Zalez and Nick York to nbield the utility guys
1:56
Speaker 3: who have been pressed so far in spring training. I mean,
1:59
Speaker 3: Nick Zalez's ops is over a thousand right now. Nick
2:03
Speaker 3: York's had some pretty clutch at bats with some RBIs.
2:09
Speaker 3: So both of them are making their case, and I
2:11
Speaker 3: think one of the intriguing things is kind of reading
2:14
Speaker 3: between the lines is that if Nick Gonzales and Nick
2:18
Speaker 3: York are battling for a position on this pirate's roster.
2:22
Speaker 3: That kind of leads me to believe that there might
2:24
Speaker 3: be a Connor Griffin plan in place a little bit.
2:28
Speaker 3: And so they're trying to figure out who's going to
2:30
Speaker 3: be that utility backup infielder between Nick and Zalaz and
2:34
Speaker 3: Nick York and so Josh. One of the questions I
2:38
Speaker 3: wanted to ask you is, how do those position battles
2:40
Speaker 3: in spring you know, impact of the team. Is it competitive?
2:44
Speaker 3: Are you like working with your teammate collaborating, and how
2:47
Speaker 3: does that push you to become a better player.
2:52
Speaker 2: It's already above and me personally, I can't speak for everybody,
2:56
Speaker 2: but you know, I don't think there.
2:59
Speaker 4: Was ever any thing that was like not for the
3:01
Speaker 4: betterment of the team.
3:02
Speaker 2: You know, yes, there's competition with you know, guys in
3:05
Speaker 2: spring training that maybe going for the same job, but
3:09
Speaker 2: you know, at the end of the day, when you've
3:10
Speaker 2: been around the game long enough, you understand injuries happen.
3:13
Speaker 4: It's twenty nine other teams.
3:15
Speaker 2: But at the end of the day, you got to
3:17
Speaker 2: take care of what you have to take care of,
3:19
Speaker 2: and you know it's a healthy thing when you got
3:21
Speaker 2: guys that are battling for that position, especially if they're
3:24
Speaker 2: you know, showing that they can play well. That means
3:26
Speaker 2: the organization is in a good position a tough spot
3:29
Speaker 2: because obviously somebody's going to be the odd man out.
3:33
Speaker 2: But you know, as I just said, there are things
3:35
Speaker 2: that happen in the future that are you know, you
3:38
Speaker 2: can't see. So just because you might not break with
3:40
Speaker 2: the team, don't mean within that first week or first month,
3:43
Speaker 2: you know, some somebody goes down. And when you get
3:46
Speaker 2: to utility, guys that are battling it out and if
3:49
Speaker 2: they're playing well, I think that just shows the depth
3:52
Speaker 2: of what we've talked about, is you know, the lack
3:55
Speaker 2: thereof right now is showing that might be a good
3:58
Speaker 2: thing to have, especially what you're saying, my be something woman.
4:00
Speaker 2: If they're battling for a position, there might be something
4:04
Speaker 2: you know between the lines that we don't really need
4:06
Speaker 2: to speak on. But at the same time, you know,
4:10
Speaker 2: utility is a position that has shown that is important
4:13
Speaker 2: for every team because you need somebody that can bounce
4:15
Speaker 2: around and you know, help out in pinches.
4:19
Speaker 1: If I could weigh in on this too, Mark, when
4:23
Speaker 1: you talk about reading between the lines knowing this team.
4:25
Speaker 1: The fact that Donnie highlighted this specific duo as a
4:29
Speaker 1: battle interests me more than just the Griffin angle, because
4:32
Speaker 1: Nick Gonzalez, I mean, this is a guy he was
4:35
Speaker 1: a lock to make the team last year and you
4:37
Speaker 1: figured that would be the case again this year. So
4:39
Speaker 1: I think by Donnie comparing him to Nick York in
4:43
Speaker 1: a battle, I think it's trying to light a fire
4:45
Speaker 1: under him, just saying, like, you know what, hey, let's go.
4:48
Speaker 1: Like you, you think you're gonna make this team, right
4:51
Speaker 1: you think? But I want you to be prepared to
4:54
Speaker 1: be not only our opening day shortstop if Connor's not ready,
4:57
Speaker 1: but I want you to be the best utility option
5:00
Speaker 1: as well. I want you to try to be winning
5:02
Speaker 1: every spot right now. And then on the flip side
5:05
Speaker 1: of it, I think the Nick York part of it
5:08
Speaker 1: is also interesting because Nick York is a guy who
5:11
Speaker 1: almost made the big league team out of camp last
5:14
Speaker 1: year but didn't see any time in the major leagues
5:17
Speaker 1: until the Triple A season was nearly over. So I
5:21
Speaker 1: think by comparing him to a guy like Nick and Zalez,
5:24
Speaker 1: who is I still think a lock to make this
5:27
Speaker 1: major league roster. I think it's more likely that both
5:29
Speaker 1: of them make the roster than only one of them does.
5:33
Speaker 1: So yeah, I think he's saying to Nick York like,
5:37
Speaker 1: look like these are if you want to be an
5:39
Speaker 1: everyday big leaguer, you need to be as good, if
5:42
Speaker 1: not better than Nick and Zalez. That's the standard for
5:44
Speaker 1: this team now. Is It's not just you know, oh,
5:47
Speaker 1: you had a good spring, We're going to throw you
5:49
Speaker 1: in there. We expect all of you to be performing
5:52
Speaker 1: at a high level, not just in spring training, but
5:55
Speaker 1: like we expect you to be a replacement level player
5:59
Speaker 1: at minimum, because that's kind of what Nick and Zalez
6:01
Speaker 1: has been throughout his big league career. So I like that.
6:04
Speaker 1: I like that, Uh, I think strategic rhetoric there by
6:08
Speaker 1: Don Kelly, that's a that's a veteran manager. Uh moved
6:11
Speaker 1: there from a guy who's hasn't even managed a follier
6:14
Speaker 1: in the big leagues. I probably probably learned that from
6:16
Speaker 1: Jim Leland, if I had to guess, But I I
6:19
Speaker 1: like I like that you pointed this out, Mark Man.
6:21
Speaker 4: That's that's two different situations.
6:23
Speaker 2: Whereas you said, lag of fire undernit, don't take anything
6:27
Speaker 2: for granted.
6:28
Speaker 4: Gonzales I should say, because both of the nick right.
6:31
Speaker 2: Yeah, and then and then for York on the other side,
6:35
Speaker 2: it's also as you said, I hadn't got much big
6:38
Speaker 2: league time, But to compare them to that, guys like, hey,
6:41
Speaker 2: keep doing what you're doing, you can you know you'll
6:44
Speaker 2: find your way on the team.
6:45
Speaker 4: So two different perspectives to look at it.
6:48
Speaker 2: But also, as I said, when you're looking at it
6:51
Speaker 2: that way from up top, you know, it's two guys
6:53
Speaker 2: that they look at that can help this team.
6:56
Speaker 1: All right, We're gonna move on now to our next
6:57
Speaker 1: segment Around the World, which where we talk some World
7:01
Speaker 1: Baseball Classic, which starts this week. Starts in a couple
7:04
Speaker 1: of days, and you can catch it all on Fox.
7:06
Speaker 1: Stream the World Baseball Classic Live from March six through fourteenth,
7:09
Speaker 1: and start your seven day free trial today at foxwe
7:12
Speaker 1: dot com. The guy we're gonna talk about for this
7:16
Speaker 1: shows around the World is a guy who took the
7:18
Speaker 1: bump on Sunday afternoon for the Pirates, Antwan Kelly Market.
7:23
Speaker 1: We were talking before the show. I think Antoine Kelly
7:26
Speaker 1: is an arm bay. Oh yeah, we're probably not talking
7:29
Speaker 1: about enough, and I get why, Like when you look
7:31
Speaker 1: at the list of arms the Pirates have. I think
7:34
Speaker 1: we're gonna go ahead and talk about Paul Skeens and
7:36
Speaker 1: Bubba Chandler and Mitch Keller before a guy who you
7:39
Speaker 1: know was in Double A all last year pretty much
7:42
Speaker 1: or got the Double A by the end of the year,
7:44
Speaker 1: I should say, but this is a very intriguing talent.
7:47
Speaker 1: Mark He just got added in, Josh, he got added
7:50
Speaker 1: to the forty man roster. Baseball America has him as
7:53
Speaker 1: the number eight prospect in the Pirates system. Is a
7:56
Speaker 1: guy with a fastball that flirts with one hundred miles
7:59
Speaker 1: an hour, and he will be pitching fourteen Netherlands in
8:03
Speaker 1: the World Baseball Classic. Born in Aruba, which you don't
8:06
Speaker 1: really run into a lot of players who were born
8:09
Speaker 1: major leaguers who were born in Aruba. But Josh, I
8:11
Speaker 1: want to ask you you you've been around guys, those
8:14
Speaker 1: position players and pitchers who had the opportunity to play
8:17
Speaker 1: in the World Baseball Classic before they were big leaguers.
8:22
Speaker 1: How valuable can that experience be? To be pitching in
8:24
Speaker 1: a major league park and against major league talent when
8:28
Speaker 1: there's something more on the line than just your typical
8:31
Speaker 1: spring training game.
8:33
Speaker 2: Oh man, I can't speak for those guys, but I'm
8:35
Speaker 2: sure one it's an experience of a lifetime.
8:39
Speaker 4: You know, it's a little different.
8:40
Speaker 2: You know, in spring training, as you said, it may
8:42
Speaker 2: be a spring trainer outing and you know you're facing
8:46
Speaker 2: you might face some big leaguers, you might face some
8:47
Speaker 2: minor league guys, but you know, at the end of
8:50
Speaker 2: the day, you know you're working on something where you
8:52
Speaker 2: play in the World Baseball Classic. Even if you're facing
8:55
Speaker 2: you know, another minor league or if you're facing these
8:58
Speaker 2: big league guys, Adrenaline is different ran up. But at
9:01
Speaker 2: the same time, you know the at bat it's gonna
9:04
Speaker 2: be different than what it would be in spring training,
9:06
Speaker 2: you know, because in a Classic, you're playing to win,
9:09
Speaker 2: not saying in spring training you're not playing to win.
9:12
Speaker 2: But we've already had this discussion, and spring training guys
9:14
Speaker 2: may be working on something. You know, I want to
9:16
Speaker 2: see pitches or I want to try to you know,
9:20
Speaker 2: take the body other way where.
9:22
Speaker 4: World Baseball Classic guys are taking a game situation.
9:24
Speaker 2: So when you have a guy like Antoine Kelly, as
9:26
Speaker 2: you mentioned, who made his way to double A by
9:28
Speaker 2: the end of last year, he's gonna get his crack
9:31
Speaker 2: at facing some big leaguers and you know it's.
9:34
Speaker 4: Not a oh a spring training that back.
9:35
Speaker 2: Granted still doesn't count towards the stats, but it's something
9:39
Speaker 2: that will give you a little idea of you know,
9:42
Speaker 2: what's to come, because you know, adrenaline is gonna be pumping.
9:45
Speaker 2: He's playing for more than just you know, pitching that
9:47
Speaker 2: at bat. He's gonna be playing for. You know, the
9:49
Speaker 2: country's represented. And I think those are moments that you
9:53
Speaker 2: know when you watch, you see the excitement that everybody
9:56
Speaker 2: plays with because you know, whether they are a ten
9:59
Speaker 2: year vet or you know somebody that's in singlely, you know,
10:02
Speaker 2: playing for Team Italy. You know guys are going hard
10:06
Speaker 2: and I think you get the most out of everybody.
10:09
Speaker 2: So that's why I said, I think it's a cool
10:11
Speaker 2: experience and you get to see a little bit of
10:14
Speaker 2: what could come in the future.
10:16
Speaker 1: Mark, if you had to guess right now, do we
10:19
Speaker 1: see Antoine Kelley in the major leagues this season?
10:21
Speaker 3: I was just about to say it would not shock
10:23
Speaker 3: me one bit. I think he's a guy that if
10:25
Speaker 3: any injuries happened, you can either bring him up to
10:28
Speaker 3: the rotation. You can have him pitch long relief out
10:30
Speaker 3: of the bullpen easimn kind of like they did with
10:33
Speaker 3: like Bubba Chandler to start last year, where they had
10:36
Speaker 3: him come out of the bullpen a few times before
10:37
Speaker 3: he would make a couple starts. And I think Antoine
10:41
Speaker 3: Kelly's deserved that this is a guy that they just
10:44
Speaker 3: added to the forty man this offseason. I think he
10:48
Speaker 3: was going to be Rule five eligible, but he does.
10:51
Speaker 3: He earned that roster spot, and so on any other
10:56
Speaker 3: team where they don't have a rotation that's as dominant
10:59
Speaker 3: as the Pirates, this would be a name fans would
11:02
Speaker 3: be clamoring to see this year. So it stinks that
11:06
Speaker 3: he's kind of gotten lost in the mix of how
11:09
Speaker 3: awesome this rotation is. But that's a blessing. So yeah,
11:14
Speaker 3: looking forward to see Antoine Coley Kelly this year. Do
11:17
Speaker 3: you think he's gonna make it up?
11:18
Speaker 4: Noah.
11:19
Speaker 1: You know what I've thought about it. A little bit
11:25
Speaker 1: part of me thinks that this is a very attractive
11:27
Speaker 1: trade piece and if the Pirates end up being buyers
11:30
Speaker 1: this season, this is the guy to dangle if you're
11:33
Speaker 1: looking to get somebody that's more than a rental and
11:36
Speaker 1: That's kind of how teams like the Pirates approach the deadline,
11:39
Speaker 1: right They always want those controllable assets. This is a
11:42
Speaker 1: guy you could He'll probably be a top one hundred
11:44
Speaker 1: prospect in baseball by mid season, like I anticipate in
11:47
Speaker 1: probably starting in Double A, being in Triple A before June,
11:52
Speaker 1: and then yeah, and then with his pitch profile and everything,
11:56
Speaker 1: and just the reputation the Pirates system, frankly, with development,
12:01
Speaker 1: there's gonna be a lot of eyeballs on them. So
12:03
Speaker 1: I think he might be a major leaguer elsewhere before here,
12:07
Speaker 1: if and that's I'm not suggesting. I don't know anything
12:10
Speaker 1: that if he's a trade piece or anything, And I
12:12
Speaker 1: don't think they're trying to trade him right now, even
12:14
Speaker 1: if so just because they're trying to figure out their
12:16
Speaker 1: own roster. But I'm saying that could be a quicker
12:19
Speaker 1: route for the major leagues. But a way I could
12:22
Speaker 1: see him getting here injuries aside, even if you know
12:26
Speaker 1: you don't have anything catastrophic and an absolute desperate need
12:29
Speaker 1: to the major league rotation is when the roster expands
12:33
Speaker 1: in September. This is the type of guy you probably
12:37
Speaker 1: want to add, right Like you get. It's an extra
12:41
Speaker 1: arm that can give you length and can give you
12:44
Speaker 1: depth in the bullpen. He can be a piggyback guy.
12:48
Speaker 1: He can be a starter and a doubleheader or even
12:51
Speaker 1: a true starter, because that's what he'll be in the
12:54
Speaker 1: minor leagues. But you know, with his pitch profile, you
12:57
Speaker 1: bring him in throwing one hundred and you could say, listen,
13:01
Speaker 1: you got five batters, let it eat. It could be
13:04
Speaker 1: really fun. And you've seen that a lot of winning
13:08
Speaker 1: teams do that in the postseason. When they're on the
13:10
Speaker 1: prespice of the postseason, you bring up that young, live arms.
13:15
Speaker 1: Yeah it's fresh, and it's a guy that you could say,
13:18
Speaker 1: all right, yeah, we had a rain delay yesterday, so
13:21
Speaker 1: that means we're gonna have to play five games in
13:23
Speaker 1: these next five day. We don't get an off day
13:25
Speaker 1: this week. We need a fresh arm. We're gonna need
13:28
Speaker 1: you to eat up some innings. And you know you're
13:31
Speaker 1: coming in here fresh live bullets. Everybody else has been
13:34
Speaker 1: grinding through a big league season. You've been chomping at
13:37
Speaker 1: the bit to get here. That's been a thing that Yeah,
13:40
Speaker 1: you've seen their Tampa Bay Rays do that for years
13:42
Speaker 1: where they you know, they brought up David Price is
13:44
Speaker 1: like the example everyone likes to bring up, but it's
13:47
Speaker 1: it's frequently done. And if the Pirates are in a
13:50
Speaker 1: place to contend, that's their that's their ace in hand
13:55
Speaker 1: right there where they can call him up and probably
13:57
Speaker 1: have a multi facet set on the mound in Antoine Kelly.
14:02
Speaker 1: So that's how I would anticipate him being used. Or
14:05
Speaker 1: if they're not good this year, then he'll be here
14:07
Speaker 1: because they're probably trading some pitching away and they're gonna
14:11
Speaker 1: be sellers. So either way, yes, I do think he
14:13
Speaker 1: will be a major leaguer, either for the Pirates because
14:15
Speaker 1: they're doing really well and competing, or they blew it up,
14:18
Speaker 1: or maybe they trade him and he's a big league
14:21
Speaker 1: somewhere else. So now we'll wrap that up. Now it's
14:25
Speaker 1: time for our final segment. All hands on deck. This
14:27
Speaker 1: is where we just have a nice little open discussion,
14:30
Speaker 1: and I want to talk about O'Neal Cruz. O'nel Cruz
14:32
Speaker 1: had a really good effort Saturday. Over the weekend, he
14:35
Speaker 1: had a home run. Entering Sunday's game. I believe he
14:39
Speaker 1: was hitting like six hundred or something in Greape Fruit
14:42
Speaker 1: League play, which you know, it's like four games, so
14:45
Speaker 1: good for him. And honestly, I feel like O'Neill hits
14:48
Speaker 1: the ball well every spring. It's getting him to consistently
14:52
Speaker 1: do it after spring that is the problem. And that's
14:54
Speaker 1: kind of what I want to bring up. O'Neal Cruz
14:58
Speaker 1: is obviously been scrutinized a ton since he's arrived, and
15:03
Speaker 1: then he's also been defended a ton since he's arrived.
15:06
Speaker 1: We're reminded about how patient we need to be with
15:09
Speaker 1: this guy because of the interesting way that he did
15:13
Speaker 1: make the major leagues right where there was probably a
15:16
Speaker 1: little bit of service time tom foolery going around there.
15:19
Speaker 1: And then his first supposed full season was in twenty
15:23
Speaker 1: twenty three, breaks his ankles or on Easter and he's
15:27
Speaker 1: out for the season. Twenty twenty four has a solid
15:30
Speaker 1: first year in the big league, Twenty twenty five is
15:31
Speaker 1: supposed to be his breakout year, but uh, he's at
15:34
Speaker 1: a new position and it just never really got going
15:38
Speaker 1: for him. So I bring him up to ask you
15:41
Speaker 1: to are we at a point now where the patients
15:45
Speaker 1: should be over for O'Neil Cruz. Is this a year
15:47
Speaker 1: where it's essentially make or break. Are you anything more
15:52
Speaker 1: than what you've shown us? Are you going to be
15:54
Speaker 1: a stack cast darling or are you going to be
15:56
Speaker 1: an actual star? Is this the year for that? I'll
15:59
Speaker 1: let you start.
16:00
Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, I don't think there's a more polarizing
16:03
Speaker 3: player on the Pirates' roster than O'Neill Cruz because it's
16:09
Speaker 3: just such a world of extremes where you see the
16:13
Speaker 3: laser home runs. I mean, he has the hardest hit
16:16
Speaker 3: ball in MLB history that's been tracked by stackcast. He
16:19
Speaker 3: has a rocket of an arm, he has speed, he
16:22
Speaker 3: has all these tools that you can't teach, and then
16:25
Speaker 3: you'll see the mental mistakes where we just saw in
16:28
Speaker 3: spring training where he lost a ball in the sun
16:30
Speaker 3: and completely misplayed it, and it's like, you've been playing
16:34
Speaker 3: outfield for a year. That's not something that you should
16:37
Speaker 3: be doing at this point. So it's frustrating, But I
16:40
Speaker 3: feel like he does deserve some patients still, just because
16:44
Speaker 3: the talent that he has is so unique where that batspeed.
16:49
Speaker 3: If he can be patient and learn how to hit lefties.
16:54
Speaker 3: There's only a couple players that are similar to him
16:57
Speaker 3: and their perennial MVP candidates so I feel like you
17:02
Speaker 3: gotta be a little patient with him. It was nice
17:05
Speaker 3: to see the spring him getting opportunities to hit like
17:07
Speaker 3: left handed pitching, for example. He only had eleven hits
17:11
Speaker 3: off of left handed pitching last year and he already
17:14
Speaker 3: has two in spring training this year. I know that
17:17
Speaker 3: was like a big focus of his off season. So
17:20
Speaker 3: if he can get more consistent stating the lineup more
17:23
Speaker 3: and help this team more often, that's awesome. And if
17:26
Speaker 3: he can do that, I mean, he could be an
17:28
Speaker 3: All Star. He has the potential for that.
17:31
Speaker 4: Josh, you got to keep the patience. How old is
17:37
Speaker 4: that you said twenty six?
17:38
Speaker 1: He's twenty six.
17:39
Speaker 4: Twenty six twenty six is still young.
17:43
Speaker 2: I know in today's game they feel like, oh, you
17:45
Speaker 2: should have everything figured out, but let's be.
17:47
Speaker 4: Honest, no way you mentioned.
17:51
Speaker 2: A horrific accident with his ankle or foot comes back
17:55
Speaker 2: as a healthy yer. Then you change a position, coming
18:00
Speaker 2: from a guy that has played everywhere but catching the
18:02
Speaker 2: major leagues. I know it made it look easy, but
18:04
Speaker 2: it's not easy. And then you got him going to
18:07
Speaker 2: man center field. It's not easy. And I know we
18:10
Speaker 2: say he's been there for a year and he shouldn't
18:11
Speaker 2: be losing balls. And it's not to pick on guys,
18:13
Speaker 2: but Max Clark the other day for the Tigers, one
18:16
Speaker 2: of the top prospects.
18:18
Speaker 4: Yeah too. So from that standpoint, the greatest outfielders.
18:24
Speaker 2: Are gonna have issues where, you know, especially in spring
18:26
Speaker 2: training you're going to Arizona hot skots, You're gonna have
18:29
Speaker 2: issues where that may happen. But I say, you got
18:33
Speaker 2: to keep the patience with him because one, you see
18:35
Speaker 2: the upside of what he can bring. But two, that
18:38
Speaker 2: doesn't mean that your patience has to be along with them,
18:40
Speaker 2: because given that he's been in the big leagues this
18:43
Speaker 2: many years, You're right, the minimal.
18:47
Speaker 4: Mistakes have to be limited.
18:48
Speaker 2: You can not run balls out, you can't let at
18:51
Speaker 2: bats transfer into the outfield. That's not to say you
18:54
Speaker 2: can't make errors, but you can't let those things continue
18:58
Speaker 2: to trick along. And the little bit that I've seen
19:01
Speaker 2: those are the things that you lose patience with.
19:03
Speaker 4: Now.
19:04
Speaker 2: Struggles physically, that is something that I say to have
19:08
Speaker 2: patience with because I opened up with it's not easy
19:12
Speaker 2: changing positions.
19:13
Speaker 4: Okay, you want him to come back healthy, all right,
19:15
Speaker 4: I'm healthy.
19:15
Speaker 2: I got a bang, but dang, how I got to
19:17
Speaker 2: learn a new position that is the most important position
19:19
Speaker 2: in the outfield. Not only that I'm playing with probably
19:22
Speaker 2: guys that aren't really the greatest outfitters to the right
19:25
Speaker 2: and left to me. So now I got to cover
19:27
Speaker 2: for people that are more natural outfitters than myself. Yes,
19:31
Speaker 2: I know my natural ability should be able to take over,
19:33
Speaker 2: but there's nothing like repetition when you're injured, when you're
19:36
Speaker 2: not playing every day, when you're not playing well, if
19:39
Speaker 2: you're not getting those reps, you can't expect to get better.
19:41
Speaker 2: So this spring I think is a big test for him,
19:44
Speaker 2: seeing the positives of hitting lefties right, and you'd rather
19:49
Speaker 2: see him make those lose the ball in the sun
19:51
Speaker 2: in the first week. Now, if we're in the last
19:53
Speaker 2: week of spring training, that's an issue. But you know,
19:57
Speaker 2: I'm a firm advocate that you know mistakes you're gonna have,
20:00
Speaker 2: and you know.
20:01
Speaker 4: It's how you respond to those.
20:03
Speaker 2: And if you see his attitude responding better than what
20:05
Speaker 2: it's been in the past, I think that's what you
20:08
Speaker 2: have to take with. But at the same time, accountability
20:11
Speaker 2: and I think that has to come not only from himself,
20:16
Speaker 2: even the team, and I think they did a little
20:18
Speaker 2: bit last year where oh yeah he didn't run.
20:20
Speaker 4: That's all, you know what I mean. So those are
20:21
Speaker 4: things that tend to add on.
20:24
Speaker 2: If you see him not being pulled as much this year,
20:26
Speaker 2: to that, that's maturity, that's growth.
20:29
Speaker 4: And as I said, he's only twenty six years old.
20:31
Speaker 2: Yes, we asked these these guys to be in their
20:35
Speaker 2: prime at twenty six, but I am a firm advocate
20:37
Speaker 2: speaking that. When I was playing, the prime was considered thirty.
20:41
Speaker 2: Now you got these guys at twenty six that are
20:43
Speaker 2: still learning. You want them to to me, that's not possible,
20:47
Speaker 2: And I just think you got to be a little
20:48
Speaker 2: bit more patient. But at the same time, that doesn't
20:50
Speaker 2: mean your patience has to be this big. You know those.
20:54
Speaker 4: Moments that you need to be accountable, keep them accountable.
20:56
Speaker 2: And I think this is a big year for him
20:59
Speaker 2: because not only that, it's hard to produce when you're
21:02
Speaker 2: not playing on the team that's good.
21:03
Speaker 4: Yeah, won a good team.
21:05
Speaker 3: He finally has protection.
21:07
Speaker 4: Now's and I will leave you with that.
21:11
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's that's where I look at it is the
21:14
Speaker 1: patience is thinner for me because you don't have to
21:18
Speaker 1: be the best player on this team anymore. If you're
21:21
Speaker 1: O'Neal Cruise for the last two seasons, really every time
21:26
Speaker 1: since the moment he debuted, every game he's played in
21:29
Speaker 1: for the Pirates, he is where the opposing pitching staffs
21:32
Speaker 1: game plan begins, how do we attack this guy? And
21:36
Speaker 1: once we figure out a game plan there will adjust
21:39
Speaker 1: and that includes when Brian Reynolds is an all star
21:42
Speaker 1: form O'Neal Cruz is a scarier guy to face just
21:45
Speaker 1: because he can mishit a ball four hundred feet. That's
21:49
Speaker 1: just how gifted he is. So now you look, he
21:52
Speaker 1: has the lineup protection he has I think, I mean,
21:56
Speaker 1: they're their outfield could potentially be disaster strissly bad defensively
22:01
Speaker 1: depending on the lineup, but like there are still good
22:04
Speaker 1: young defenders in that outfield. Garcia I think can be
22:06
Speaker 1: a plus defender and Mangum is a proven plus defender.
22:10
Speaker 1: And the outfield so like there are things that everything
22:13
Speaker 1: that he needed help with to take a little weight
22:16
Speaker 1: off his shoulders. They have that.
22:18
Speaker 4: Now.
22:19
Speaker 1: They have bats that can hit left handed pitching. They
22:22
Speaker 1: have bats that can provide slug they have guys who
22:24
Speaker 1: can steal bases, they have guys who can play good
22:27
Speaker 1: outfield defense. So the pressure is off of you a
22:30
Speaker 1: little bit, which means you need to go perform. It
22:33
Speaker 1: is this year, and at the very least, you need
22:36
Speaker 1: to be as productive as you were in twenty twenty four.
22:39
Speaker 1: If that's your ceiling, then that's fine. If Oneokruz hits
22:43
Speaker 1: twenty plus home runs and hits you know, above two hundred,
22:47
Speaker 1: which he struggled to this past year. And you talked
22:50
Speaker 1: about the lefty thing, Mark, go look at his splits
22:52
Speaker 1: against left handers in the second half of twenty twenty four.
22:55
Speaker 1: He crushed them, right, He crushed them in the second half.
22:58
Speaker 1: And that's why I was so surprised with this struggles
23:00
Speaker 1: against left handed pitching last year, because he ended twenty
23:03
Speaker 1: twenty four on such a positive note against that reverse
23:07
Speaker 1: split matchup. So I do think the patience is a
23:10
Speaker 1: little thin where it's because this should be easier for you.
23:14
Speaker 1: Baseball is an incredibly hard game. I'm not discounting that,
23:17
Speaker 1: and I think Josh made a lot of relevant points, like,
23:20
Speaker 1: you are still young, you're twenty six, You've gone through
23:22
Speaker 1: a lot. This is really your first year of any
23:24
Speaker 1: sort of stability in your major league career. Where you're
23:28
Speaker 1: not really coming off of an injury or some sort
23:30
Speaker 1: of position change or adversity of some kind. But that's it, though,
23:36
Speaker 1: Like there are no more excuses. This is your time
23:39
Speaker 1: to go out and perform. And I think him just
23:43
Speaker 1: simplifying his game will make him such a better baseball player.
23:47
Speaker 1: You don't even though the corner outfielders might not have
23:50
Speaker 1: a ton of range, there's no need to be superman.
23:53
Speaker 1: Your pitching is good enough to pitch out of jams,
23:55
Speaker 1: and now you can win games that aren't by a
23:58
Speaker 1: final score of two to one. Hell, you could score
24:00
Speaker 1: three or four runs every every game now, And I
24:03
Speaker 1: think that the hitting approach can also be a lot better.
24:06
Speaker 1: I forget what coaches we're talking about it. I want
24:10
Speaker 1: to say it was. I think it was T Brock
24:12
Speaker 1: and Tony Beasley. We're talking about it on an interview
24:15
Speaker 1: in the pregame before one of the spring training games
24:18
Speaker 1: this year, and how they were saying, this guy just
24:20
Speaker 1: needs to be a contact hitter because when he puts
24:23
Speaker 1: back the ball, it goes faster than anyone who can
24:26
Speaker 1: hit a baseball. So just focus on contact and slug
24:30
Speaker 1: is going to become natural by just the way you
24:34
Speaker 1: hit the ball hard. Rather, you don't need to swing
24:36
Speaker 1: as hard as you can. You're strong enough and you
24:39
Speaker 1: get enough momentum when you turn that you know, a
24:43
Speaker 1: one five exit velocity. It's not gonna break your one
24:46
Speaker 1: seventeen record, but it's still pretty damn hard, and guys
24:49
Speaker 1: don't want to catch a ball that's hit that hard
24:51
Speaker 1: at them. So I just think simplifying the game is
24:54
Speaker 1: going to make O'Neil Cruz a lot better of a
24:56
Speaker 1: baseball player. And if that's ever going to happen for
24:59
Speaker 1: him in Pittsburgh, it's gonna happen now because they they
25:02
Speaker 1: made a lot of additions that I think were strategically
25:05
Speaker 1: brought in to ease his his challenges.
25:08
Speaker 3: And one day we haven't brought up. They brought in
25:11
Speaker 3: Marcello's Una.
25:12
Speaker 1: You know, Yes, another veteran Latin guy.
25:15
Speaker 3: Yeah, who's a power hitter, who can say, hey, I've
25:18
Speaker 3: had these struggles in my career. This is how I
25:20
Speaker 3: overcame them. And you look at like Ozuna. His walk
25:23
Speaker 3: rate has shot up the last few years. Yeah, so
25:26
Speaker 3: you know, like maybe he can share some of that
25:28
Speaker 3: wisdom that he tapped into. So yeah, I'm it's an
25:32
Speaker 3: exciting year for your o Neil Cruz.
25:33
Speaker 1: I'd say, right, yeah, everyone's waiting for this guy to
25:36
Speaker 1: be you know, Ellie Daily Cruz if not better, right,
25:39
Speaker 1: Like they're they're gonna be compared to each other, fair
25:42
Speaker 1: or unfair, because I mean they are like a carbon
25:45
Speaker 1: copy of each other physically, and and their their names
25:49
Speaker 1: are almost the same too. Yeah, so like like I
25:52
Speaker 1: get it, But at the same time, it's like, don't
25:55
Speaker 1: compare yourself to anyone, dude. You don't even need to
25:57
Speaker 1: be the best player on the Pirates. We just need
25:59
Speaker 1: you to be the best O'Neal cruise. And if you
26:02
Speaker 1: can be the best O'Neal Cruise, who knows what that
26:04
Speaker 1: looks like because we haven't seen it yet. Maybe that's
26:07
Speaker 1: the best player in baseball. Maybe that's just a little
26:09
Speaker 1: bit better than twenty twenty four. Either way, if he's
26:12
Speaker 1: the best version of himself, this team's probably a playoff
26:15
Speaker 1: team this year. So that's that's where I look at it.
26:19
Speaker 1: Like the patience is Warren thin, but the belief shouldn't be,
26:22
Speaker 1: because I do think that this is a situation that's
26:24
Speaker 1: far more advantageous for him compared to any other situation
26:28
Speaker 1: that he's entered a season. So I want to remind
26:31
Speaker 1: everyone to hit that subscribe button if they haven't already.
26:34
Speaker 1: We're on a mission of three thousand subs. We can't
26:36
Speaker 1: get there without your help, so please give us a
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Speaker 1: little love and hit that subscribe button if you haven't already.
26:42
Speaker 1: And also check out our team store, the Bucko Territory
26:45
Speaker 1: Team Store. We've got a lot of great stuff there.
26:49
Speaker 1: You know, it's almost a bit at this point, how
26:51
Speaker 1: we're just reciting that. There's the hat I believe in,
26:56
Speaker 1: mug mug, the mug yes, is there.
27:00
Speaker 4: We go.
27:02
Speaker 1: The scan me QR code stays there forever too.
27:05
Speaker 4: I like that.
27:06
Speaker 1: So and I will be in Bradenton as well. This
27:10
Speaker 1: this for the remainder of spring training. So if you're
27:12
Speaker 1: down here, hit us up, hit me up. I would
27:14
Speaker 1: love to meet up with you again. We want to
27:17
Speaker 1: remind everyone three shows a week from here on out Monday,
27:20
Speaker 1: Wednesday Friday Wednesday will be our mail bag show. So
27:25
Speaker 1: tweet out, tweet out your questions. I'll send out a
27:28
Speaker 1: tweet asking for questions. I believe probably Monday or Tuesday.
27:32
Speaker 1: I'll send that out and you can comment there. You
27:34
Speaker 1: can also email me. My email is en Hiles at
27:37
Speaker 1: Postdash Gazette dot com. So we'll be answering your questions
27:40
Speaker 1: on Wednesday, show Fellas. Any final thoughts before we wrap
27:43
Speaker 1: it up?
27:46
Speaker 3: I got nothing another counter Griffin home run today we're
27:50
Speaker 3: recording another. Yes, he keeps going seven balls batt at
27:56
Speaker 3: above one hundred miles per hour this.
27:57
Speaker 4: Spring, soid contact.
28:00
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's uh, he's a superstar.
28:04
Speaker 1: We'll see, We'll see, I'll be I'll be watching him
28:07
Speaker 1: in tomorrow. I'll let you guys know if Connor Griffin's
28:09
Speaker 1: good at baseball.
28:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, keep his pudsy.
28:13
Speaker 1: These Platinum Keys, Josh Harrison, Noahiles were all signing off
28:16
Speaker 1: saying thanks for tuning in to another episode of Bucco Territory,
28:19
Speaker 1: presented to you by the Foul Territory Network
28:24
Speaker 4: M