BRADENTON, Fla. -- The double doors at Pirate City have a door closer hanging a few inches off the top of the structure. It's hardly intrusive and barely even noticeable. Every player, coach and clubhouse person will pass through those doors multiple times a day, not paying any mind to the closer.
Oneil Cruz has to duck to make sure he did not hit his head off of it.
"Man, he just keeps getting taller," Jared Oliva, Cruz's Class AA and Arizona Fall League teammate, joked with me.
Cruz's stature has been well documented since the Pirates acquired him in a trade with the Dodgers during the 2017 trade deadline, but it isn't until you see him in person that you realize exactly how tall he is. The 21-year-old shortstop is officially listed at 6'7", standing a head taller than just about everyone on the roster. He seems even larger is person.
Since coming to the Pirates' organization, he has been filling out that frame with muscle -- he added another 5-10 pounds this winter, he said -- and become one of the top prospects in baseball.
Perhaps there is some irony in him playing short-stop, though many scouts and prospect experts forecast him going to a corner infield position or the outfield. He has not performed particularly well at short to help his case, making 16 errors total between advanced-A and double-A a year ago.
Cruz, however, is determined to stay at shortstop, his native position.
“I’m focused on playing short,” Cruz said through Pirates interpreter Mike Gonzalez. “It’s the most fun position to play on the field. I love all of the action. I don’t want to play anywhere else.”
He may be done growing, but Cruz is still rising in prospect rankings league wide. FanGraphs currently ranks him as the 32nd best prospect in baseball. Baseball America has him as their 57th best prospect, and MLB Pipeline has him pegged at 64.
All of those outlets raved about his raw power, rocket arm and, of course, his size, and rated him as one of the Pirates' best prospects. Baseball America and MLB Pipeline consider him the Pirates' third best minor-leaguer, and FanGraphs views him as the second best, just behind Ke'Bryan Hayes.
A right foot fracture slowed Cruz in the early goings of 2019, but he crushed single-A pitching after returning from the injured list and was promoted to Altoona in late July. He continued to hit well there, and was added to the 40-man roster in November.
With that promotion to the roster comes Cruz's first invitation to major-league spring training.
"It's an honor, it's a blessing to be here, and I'm really excited," Cruz said. "I had a good time last year, being able to show a little bit of what I have, and I'm excited to show a little bit of what I have now."
Cruz wasn't all that talkative when meeting with reporters, occasionally giving a simple "Si" with a smile as a response to a question. That wasn't much of a surprise to Oliva, who says Cruz is reserved, but that is part of what makes him so successful.
"Same way out in the field," Oliva said. "He's just so loose, relaxed."
So when can Pittsburgh get to see Cruz play at PNC Park? He's hoping it's very soon.
“My goal is to make it to the big leagues this year,” Cruz said. “I want to do everything possible to make it to the big leagues this year.”
With only 35 games of double-A experience under his belt, that would be a major jump for Cruz, but that doesn't discourage him.
"For me, there's nothing impossible," he said.
