Oneil Cruz was helped off the field by trainers with a fracture in his left ankle after a collision with White Sox catcher Seby Zavala on a slide at home plate during the sixth inning of the Pirates' 1-0 win Sunday afternoon at PNC Park.
Derek Shelton revealed the ankle fracture but declined to speculate on anything else regarding Cruz, saying he will be evaluated further. There is no timetable for how long he will be out.
"It was just a bang-bang play at the plate on a ground ball on the infield," Shelton said. "There was contact at the plate. Not having seen the replay, I don't know that contact, where the contact happened. But it's just one of those things when the infield is in and you're moving, sometimes there's contact."
With runners on the corners and nobody out, Ke'Bryan Hayes chopped a grounder to third baseman Yoan Moncada, who went home with the throw as Cruz took off. The throw came in high, and Zavala's landing after jumping for the ball positioned him in front of the plate. Cruz slid in feet first, and his left leg collided with Zavala's.
Cruz appeared to slide late on the play, and his pathing can definitely be questioned as Zavala left a chunk of the right-half of the plate for Cruz to access. Cruz wilted over while grimacing in pain as Carlos Santana stepped up to Zavala in Cruz's defense. Santana shoved Zavala with his left arm but did not throw a punch, which prompted the benches and bullpens to clear. No players were ejected as a result of the incident.
Benches clear in Pittsburgh after a play at the plate involving Oneil Cruz
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 9, 2023
(via @NBCSWhiteSox)pic.twitter.com/zEfdulecBS
Cruz, meanwhile, remained on the ground near home plate and was tended to by assistant athletic trainer Tony Leo as the skirmish took place. Cruz had to be helped off of the field by two members of the Pirates staff after the skirmish was quelled.
Talking with Chicago reporters postgame, Zavala said: "I think in a couple days, everybody will forget about it," before being informed that Cruz fractured his ankle.
"Just a baseball play," Zavala responded after being told Cruz fractured his ankle. "Didn't want anybody to get hurt. Didn't want it to escalate that far. It escalated and can't really do anything about it."
Seby Zavala postgame. pic.twitter.com/K6lFDPpX84
— Daryl Van Schouwen (@CST_soxvan) April 9, 2023
White Sox manager Pedro Grifol pinch-hit Yasmani Grandal for Zavala in the seventh, likely to avoid any retaliation. Shelton subsequently pulled starter Johan Oviedo in favor of Dauri Moreta. Grandal struck out looking on five pitches without incident.
When discussing if there was a potential violation of the Buster Posey rule for home plate collisions, Shelton said "It wasn't anything that we could challenge."
"Without having seen the play, I don't know how much lane he got," Shelton said.
Santana said Zavala said something to Cruz, which prompted him to approach the White Sox catcher.
"I’m sad that something happened with Cruz," Santana said. "After that, [Cruz] screamed. Everybody knows what happened. [Zavala] screamed and I said, ‘Why did he say that?’ A lot of emotion for the game in the moment. It’s tough. [Zavala] screamed at Cruz, and I don’t like that. I had to protect my teammate. He got hurt. [Zavala] screamed and I said a couple things.
"It’s tough. It’s tough. What I don’t like, he screamed to him. He got hurt. He didn’t try to hit him. It’s a quick play. Everything is fast. What I don’t like is he screamed at him when he got hurt. I had to support him and my teammates. ... It’s quick. Everything is quick. But I don’t like that he screamed at him when he got hurt. I’m very sad for [Cruz]."
White Sox starter Michael Kopech took exception to how Santana responded:
Here’s Michael Kopech’s take on the Cruz slide and the ensuing bench clearer: pic.twitter.com/SD7kSJ0eCb
— Daryl Van Schouwen (@CST_soxvan) April 9, 2023
Hayes said he did not see the play happen since he was running to first base, but he did note that Santana stepping up to Zavala in Cruz's defense was a spark for the team.
“I feel like in a sense it kind of gave us some more energy to be able to back our guy up," Hayes said. "Santana, a veteran guy, kind of initiated it a little bit. That’s what you’re supposed to do. You’re supposed to have a teammate’s back. I was running down first base line so I didn’t even see the play. All of a sudden, I was walking back to the base, getting with (first base coach Tarrick Brock). ... Being able to have each other’s back, that’s a what a locker room is for, what a team is for. I liked it. I felt like it gave us energy, gave those bullpen guys energy to come in and shut the door.”
Ji Hwan Bae replaced Cruz and played second base while Rodolfo Castro slid over from second to fill Cruz's spot at shortstop to begin the seventh inning. Castro moving to play shortstop in that moment could be a surface-level indication that he could see playing time at Cruz's position in the immediacy. The 23-year-old Castro has played 20 of his 109 career games at shortstop.
"He said he feels like he's going to be ready for whatever position they need him to play, and he's going to give 100 percent," Castro said through interpreter Stephen Morales. "It still hurts that he's not going to be able to see his teammate next to him for a while, but he said he's ready for whatever comes, and he'll be available."
Cruz was batting .267 with a home run, four RBIs, and seven runs scored in his eight games entering Sunday. He went 0-for-2 with a walk and a stolen base prior to the collision at home Sunday.
As for options to replace Cruz, the Pirates have four infielders on its 40-man roster, with Liover Peguero having experience at shortstop in the minor leagues and with Mark Mathias and Tucupita Marcano having experience elsewhere in the infield. Jared Triolo had surgery to repair a hamate bone and is shut down for the next four to six weeks.
Andrew McCutchen offered an example from 2014 of a Pirates infielder stepping up for his teammate and rising above expectations because of it:
"Someone comes in and contributes," McCutchen said. "It gives someone else an opportunity to showcase what they can do, whoever that that may be. It gives them an opportunity or more at bats under their belt or whatever that it is. A prime example, Josh Harrison. He's a guy that was kind of an up-and-down guy, option guy. In 2014, gets a chance because someone goes down and he becomes an All-Star and it's history from there. That's part of it. You can't replace somebody like Cruz, for sure, but it gives someone else an opportunity to be able to shine and help this ball club."
McCutchen then tweeted this Sunday evening:
Sucks for my guy Cruz. Dude is an absolute beast. Hate to see anyone go down with an injury but especially your own. Tough blow for everybody on this side but we got a good group of guys here. Heal up lil/big bro🙏🏾
— Andrew McCutchen (@TheCUTCH22) April 10, 2023
Cruz is not just a productive hitter, elite athlete, and the spark for the top of the lineup; he is someone which Castro considers a good friend and which Santana has taken under his wing since the 37-year-old's arrival in Pittsburgh. Cruz's locker in the clubhouse is located in between Castro and Santana's.
"I feel bad, you know. I feel bad. He’s hurt. He’s hurt, but it’s baseball," Santana said. "I’m very close to him and I'll keep in touch with him after the accident. He’s strong. He’s a younger guy. He’s strong. ... I feel bad. He’s tough, but it happens."
Castro said via Morales: "It hurts a lot, because he's like my brother, and it hurts the team, too. They all feel the pain, but he knows that they're all here to give their best to help the team win, so when stuff like that happens he feels pretty sad."
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Not to be completely overshadowed by what happened with Cruz, the Pirates earned the 1-0 win largely in part to Oviedo's rock-solid start. The 25-year-old tossed 6.2 innings with great command of his fastball, compiling five strikeouts while allowing just five hits and not walking a batter. He retired nine consecutive White Sox in between the second and fifth innings.
Much more to come on Oviedo and his start in a Freeze Frame story later this evening.
• The Pirates' lone run came via Jack Suwinski's sacrifice fly, 387 feet to dead center field, in the second inning. Canaan Smith-Njigba rocketed a one-out triple off of the Clemente Wall -- and was aided by a bit of a misjudgment from Romy Gonzalez -- as he raced into third base.
"He started me off with a curveball -- it was kind of hanging, I wish I would've swung at that one, too," Smith-Njigba told me. "He threw a slider and it was hanging a little bit, so I just put a good swing on it and it ended up being a triple, and I'm glad that I found a way to help the team."
After Castro walked, Suwinski took a Kopech fastball left of center field to bring in Smith-Njigba. Suwinski started the count down 0-2 before taking one fastball high, fouling off a fastball, and taking a slider low before finding Kopech's offering on the opposite corner of the plate.
"You leave a ball in certain areas of the zone, and he's going to do a lot of damage," Shelton said. "So today the fact he was able to shorten up and do what he did, I don't think we would have seen that last year so that's a credit to his mental approach. It's a credit to our hitting group for continuing to push and grind with him."
• During his weekly radio show prior to Sunday's game, Ben Cherington said Vince Velasquez received additional tests on his ankle, but is expected to make his next scheduled start. Velasquez was injured in his start Saturday, but X-Rays came up negative.
Cherington added Class AAA starter and top-10 Pirates prospect Mike Burrows left Saturday's start in Indianapolis with a forearm issue, and the organization will have more clarity on injury specifics this week.
"We don't have much yet," Cherington said in part.
He also added the club expects to have more clarity on J.T. Brubaker this week, and that Austin Hedges "seems to be trending in the right direction" with his concussion.
• Cherington did not discuss Bryan Reynolds' contract.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• 7-day concussion injured list: C Austin Hedges
• 15-day injured list: RHP Robert Stephenson (elbow)
• 60-day injured list: RHP JT Brubaker (elbow), LHP Jarlin Garcia (elbow)
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Oneil Cruz, SS
2. Bryan Reynolds, LF
3. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
4. Carlos Santana, DH
5. Ji-Man Choi, 1B
6. Canaan Smith-Njigba, RF
7. Rodolfo Castro, 2B
8. Jack Suwinski, CF
9. Tyler Heineman, C
And for Pedro Grifol's White Sox:
1. Tim Anderson, SS
2. Andrew Benintendi, LF
3. Andrew Vaughn, 1B
4. Yoan Moncada, 3B
5. Gavin Sheets, DH
6. Oscar Colas, CF
7. Romy Gonzalez, RF
8. Seby Zavala, C
9. Elvis Andrus, 2B
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates remain at home for three games against the defending World Series champion Houston Astros, beginning Monday with a 6:35 p.m. first pitch at PNC Park. Pirates right-hander Roansy Contreras (1-0, 1.59 ERA) is set to oppose Astros left-hander Framber Valdez (0-1, 1.50) in the series opener. DK and I will have you covered.
THE MULTIMEDIA
THE CONTENT
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