On-the-job training helps Pirates' Oneil Cruz learn what it takes to play in the majors

The throws from shortstop don’t always land cleanly in the first baseman’s glove.

And he still has a lot to learn about hitting against left-handed pitchers.

But what better place for Oneil Cruz to discover what it takes to play big-league ball than the big leagues?

Cruz showed why he’s the Pittsburgh Pirates’ everyday shortstop, despite a .252 on-base percentage, when he slugged a 416-foot home run Tuesday against the Chicago Cubs’ Keegan Thompson at Wrigley Field.

That followed a 411-foot shot Sunday at PNC Park against Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara, one of the best pitchers in baseball. It was only the seventh home run Alcantara has surrendered in 144 1/3 innings.

But perhaps just as impressive is what Cruz didn’t do at Wrigley. He didn’t strike out. It was only the sixth time he avoided a whiff in 30 games since his call-up from Triple-A Indianapolis on June 20.

“I feel like I’m having a lot better at-bats right now,” the Dominican-born, 23-year-old said through translator Mike Gonzalez. “Trying not to swing at bad pitches. More than anything, I thought I have my timing back.”

Cruz will take a career-long, six-game hitting streak (7 for 24) into the Pirates’ four-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies, starting Thursday at PNC Park.

The Pirates have shown patience with Cruz in his rookie season. He has the team’s third-best slugging percentage (.442), but his OPS sits at .694 because of too many strikeouts (42) and too few walks (five). He’s hitting .221 (.250 against right-handers, .171 against left-handers). Since June 20, no National League rookie has more home runs and RBIs (6/21) than Cruz.

Although Jack Suwinski, another budding power hitter, was sent to Triple-A while in an 0-for-29 slump, Cruz hasn’t gone more than two consecutive games without a hit.

Manager Derek Shelton has been encouraged by Cruz’s approach at the plate in recent games.

“I thought he took three really good swings (Tuesday),” he said. “He’s having better, aggressive swings.”

Cruz readily admits that he’s a fastball hitter. “I’m always hunting the fastball,” he said.

But he’s working on becoming more productive when faced with a breaking ball, change-up or a pitch that looks juicy but ends up out of the strike zone.

“If I ever find myself behind in the count, I know they’re just going to throw me a lot of fool pitches,” he said, “just try to fool me, try to get me to chase.

“That’s why I have to change my approach, be a lot more patient, be a lot wiser. Making sure that whatever pitch I’m about to swing to is in the zone I’m locating.”

Cruz may avoid a Triple-A demotion, partially because the Pirates want him to get accustomed to the speed and pace of the major leagues.

“The speed of the game is completely different here,” Shelton said. “With a lot of young players, you see the adjustments they make, good and bad. The only place that that can happen is at the major-league level.”

For now, Shelton can live with Cruz’s struggles with breaking pitches. But he doesn’t want to see him waste an opportunity to attack a fastball

“The thing that he, like all young hitters, (needs to do) is when ‘I get the fastball, I need to get after it and I need to hammer it, especially if it’s in his zone.’ ”

When Cruz puts down his bat and mans the shortstop position previously held by Kevin Newman, he has the ability to show off an arm unlike many others. His 97.8 mph throw in Miami on July 14 is the fastest recorded throw since Statcast began tracking such things in 2015.

But Cruz also threw the ball over first baseman Josh VanMeter’s head Tuesday. And low-balled two subsequent throws to first.

Setting his body and throwing accurately across the infield can be a problem for a man who stands 6-foot-7. Three of Cruz’s four errors are on throws, but he had one from Monday taken away when the Wrigley Field official scorer changed his mind Tuesday and gave it to first baseman Michael Chavis.

“He just didn’t move his feet,” Shelton said, speaking of the overthrow. “We’ve talked about it a lot. As big as he is, he has to make sure his feet are underneath him.”