One of Pittsburgh’s best prospects, O’Neill Cruz (25), now the team’s present and future, met with reporters before the exhibition game and made a surprise remark. When asked what his goals were for this year, he exclaimed, “I’ll do 30-30, or 40-40.”
It’s not easy for him to hit 30 home runs, and it’s not easy to get 30 stolen bases either. Since he said that he would do all of this, rather aiming for 40-40, it was only natural that this remark garnered a lot of attention in the local area. However, my teammates who play in the same field reacted, ‘It could be so’. There are players who are convinced that if the great business comes back, the main character will be Cruz.안전놀이터
Carl Mitchell said in an interview with the local influential media ‘Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’ on the 3rd (Korean time), “If someone does it (30-30 or 40-40), maybe it is.” Jack Swinsky even assured me, “Of course. I’m sure. There’s no doubt about it. I’ve been watching him for four years, and he will.”
Cruz is a shortstop with tremendous athleticism. He is a shortstop and is over 2m tall. Not only does he have good strength, but his shoulders are also strong. He’s not a dull player here. Rather, he is a player with a main power to the extent of being counted in the league. If you look at the tally of ‘Statcast’, Cruz is the player who showed the strongest throw in the league last year and has the best sprint speed in the league. Not to mention the power that comes from a huge body. Literally, it’s a ‘tool lump’.
Bae Ji-hwan (24), who also showed top-level sprint speed in the league, also sticks out his tongue at Cruz’s athletic ability. Bae Ji-hwan, who once formed a keystone duo with Crews as a second baseman, joked, “I’m still a bit fast,” but added, “But only up to one base. If it’s your base, he beats me.” Bae Ji-hwan, who is agile, has an advantage in short-distance running from 1st to 2nd base, but Cruz admits that he is faster after that when momentum and acceleration are added.
Bae Ji-hwan commented on Cruz’s athletic ability as “unbelievable” and said, “Especially considering his (physical) size, I can’t help but be surprised at how fast he moves.”
Only four times in major league history have he reached 40-40, and the last was Alfonso Soriano in 2006. Since then, no player has come close. There have been a total of 62 instances where he has gone 30-30, Barry Bonds being the last in Pittsburgh history. Cruz is challenging this cause.
It can be interpreted as a simple resolution, but there is another reason why it cannot be viewed that way. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that Cruz hit 17 homers in just 87 games last year. He had a .395 batting average in his last nine games and had six home runs and five stolen bases in 29 games since September. If the maturity he showed at the end of last year while playing full-time in the major leagues is added, there is an expectation that 30-30 degrees is not unreasonable.