Cruz 'in better spirits' after ankle surgery, will miss four months

Oneil Cruz had surgery on his left ankle Sunday night after fracturing it against the White Sox earlier that day, the Pirates announced Monday afternoon.

The Pirates anticipate Cruz returning to action in four months, so it does not appear to be a season-ending injury, but the club will be without its shortstop for the majority of the season. A source later clarified to DK Pittsburgh Sports that it's four months for game action, not the start of the rehab assignment, and that a return to the majors is currently the hope for the end of that four-month window.

The Pirates placed Cruz on the 10-day injured list and recalled infielder Mark Mathias from Triple-A Indianapolis Monday afternoon.

Derek Shelton said prior to Monday's first pitch Cruz is in "better" spirits despite the injury.

"I saw Oneil last night before the surgery -- (trainer Rafael Freitas) was with him -- just to make sure if he needed anything, his family needed anything," Shelton said. "Last night, obviously, in a different state. I was able to FaceTime him this morning -- Raul Hernandez and I FaceTimed him this morning. He was smiling and was in better spirits. I think having a little more of an idea of what was going on and how it was going about, he was in a better sense. Excited once he’s to the point where he’s out of the hospital getting him back around our group because I think it’s important when you have guys that are on the IL are around your group to be part of the club."

Hear more from Shelton about Cruz's surgery here:

According to a statement from Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk, the surgery stabilized the fractured fibula and addressed the injury to the syndesmosis.

Cruz fractured the ankle after he collided with White Sox catcher Seby Zavala on a play at the plate Sunday. Benches cleared as a result of the injury, and Cruz was helped off the field where he barely put any weight on his left foot.

The injury is not considered season-ending at this point, but Shelton was more concerned with Cruz's demeanor and mood in the hours following the play and leading up to the surgery.

"My solace is in the fact that he’s OK," Shelton said. "Putting a timetable on anything right now, I know it’s four months. The biggest thing for me today was when we FaceTimed him and he smiled. You guys have been around him; that smile is infectious. So, just to see that out of him a little bit, that’s where I’m more concerned. We’re talking about a 24-year-old kid here. When you have children which, some of you guys do, and I do, to have one that’s 22, my concern is more about the kid than worrying about a timetable or what’s going on."

Corey was at the game Sunday to get reactions from the Pirates' clubhouse following the injury.

As for the next four months, the manning of the shortstop position will come down to at least three names, starting with Rodolfo Castro and Ji Hwan Bae and with Mathias in the mix. Mathias has played more second base throughout his career and is most likely to stick there, however.

The 28-year-old Mathias profiles as a pure contact hitter who has the ability to spread the ball to all parts of the field. Mathias was hitting .333 (10-for-30) with a home run, two RBIs, and a .926 OPS in nine games with Triple-A Indianapolis prior to his call-up. He hit .322 in 58 games in Triple-A between Milwaukee and Texas' organizations last season.

"I think we’ve seen Mark hit," Shelton said. "He’s hit in Triple-A. He hit last year when he went to Texas in the big leagues a little bit. To say moving forward what’s going to happen, I can’t tell you that. He’s gonna get some reps. We’re gonna get some left-handed pitching. We’re going to get a situation to get him in there. He can play second. He can play both corners. He can play third a little bit in Triple-A. We’ll kind of find out from there. But we like the bat. That’s why we acquired him. ... His ability to hit. Overall, his ability to hit. I think that’s something that when we acquired him, our pro scouting group really liked."

Mathias played in 16 games with Milwaukee in 2020 before missing all of 2021 with surgery to repair his labrum in his throwing shoulder. He hit .247 with six home runs and 20 RBIs in 30 games with Milwaukee and Texas last season. The Pirates acquired Mathias, a former third-round pick of Cleveland in 2015, from Texas in March in exchange for right-handed pitcher Ricky DeVito.

"It feels good to be back up here," Mathias said prior to Monday's game. "Unfortunately, the reason why I’m here, Oneil’s a great player, he brings a lot to this team. It’s unfortunate but I’m happy to be here. ... Just prepared everywhere. Utility guy, just trying to get my reps in wherever and be prepared for whatever they need. That’s my goal here.”

Shelton penned Mathias eighth in his batting order and at second base for Monday's series opener against Houston. Castro earned the start at shortstop and hit seventh Monday.

Castro was Cruz's replacement for the final three innings of Sunday's game agains the White Sox. He has played 21 of his 111 career games at shortstop.

"My confidence level's high (in Castro)," Shelton said. "I mean, I think you saw that play he made last night in the eighth with Tim Anderson running down the line in a 1-0 game and he's got to make that transfer. Confidence level's high. I think the one thing with Rudy that if you look back, he played a lot of short in spring training because we had that competition at second, we had a bunch of guys there, and second base defense was never a concern for me with Rudy, and the days we gave Oneil off, Rudy ended up going to short and playing those days just to get the at-bats. So, he actually got a ton of reps there in Spring Training, which makes me feel a little bit bit better. If it was a situation where he hadn’t, maybe a little bit more concerned because on that side of the ball, you have to move your feet, you have to continue to do things that are different than second. But my confidence level is high that he’s going to catch the ball."

An earlier version of this story had speculation that Cruz was believed to be out 10-12 weeks.