BRADENTON, Fla. -- Oneil Cruz said Monday he’s feeling 100% healthy after playing in just nine games before undergoing season-ending ankle surgery in April of last year.
The 25-year-old shortstop put in plenty of work during the offseason to help put him in a position where he can now ramp things up during spring training and prepare for what he hopes to be a full season in the big leagues.
“You’re trying your best and your hardest to get back on the field as soon as possible,” Cruz said via interpretor Stephen Morales. “I put in a lot of work to be where I’m at right now.”
A big part of Cruz’s return to action revolves around him getting his timing right at the plate. He’s been a part of live batting practice sessions against Mitch Keller and Luis Ortiz over the past few days at Pirate City to help him get back into the swing of things.
“You miss an entire year and it’s rusty,” Derek Shelton said. “That’s why we’re gonna try to get him in as many live situations as possible like he was today off Ortiz.”
Cruz will eventually need to turn his focus towards baserunning and sliding, the act in which he injured his ankle a year ago.
“Running the bases is gonna be the last one and sliding is gonna be a big one. We were able to see him slide in a Dominican instructional league game, I think the second game he played in,” Shelton explained. “He got a base hit, stole second and was able to slide. That’s gonna be important, it’s just breaking barriers of game speed competition that we need to accomplish.”
At the start of his recovery process, Cruz admits he lost a bit of confidence when trying to run for the first time.
“At the beginning, that’s what I struggled with, just to be able to run again like I used to,” Cruz said. “But now I feel 100%. I’m in a good spot.”
The Pirates will undoubtedly benefit from having Cruz back in the fold, especially if he can build on what he did at the plate in 2022. In 87 games, he batted .233/.294/.450 with 17 home runs and 54 RBIs.
“Me being in the lineup will help the team a lot,” Cruz said. “Last year, I missed it, and I know I was missed by the team not being in the lineup. I know I can contribute a lot to the team and help get more wins, that’s for sure.”
While he wasn’t able to contribute on the field, Cruz found value in being on the outside looking in.
“I was able to learn more stuff than playing every day. That was a positive thing about being in the dugout or watching games on TV,” Cruz said. “Seeing the game from a different lens was nice.”
Since it’s a different looking club heading into 2024, Shelton said it’s hard to put a number on how many more wins the Pirates could have this year with their star shortstop returning to the field and lineup.
But one thing is for sure: A healthy Cruz will certainly make them better.
“He’s an impactful player, and I think we saw that last year in spring training and the short number of games he played, the strides he had made with another year,” Shelton said. “Adding an impact player back in the middle of the diamond, that’s something that’s definitely going to benefit us.”
