Cruz is every bit of 6-foot-7, which is the same height as Aaron Judge, and three inches taller than Seager, Tatis, and Correa. “There's never been a regular shortstop listed above 6-foot-4. “It's worth noting that Cruz isn't just going to be the biggest regular shortstop in MLB history, he's going to be the biggest by a wide margin,” Seidler said this week. It was understandably difficult to comprehend how it would look in the majors. When Cruz was even younger and even ganglier, Baseball Prospectus prospect writer Jarrett Seidler was in the pack of scouts trying to foresee his future. Cruz, who is listed at 220 pounds, has a slender, lanky body type closer to Fernando Tatis Jr., who is 6-foot-3. and has proliferated a bit in recent years with Corey Seager and Carlos Correa.
That breed of quarterback-bodied shortstop began with Cal Ripken Jr. The tallest players to stake out actual careers in the six hole have been in the 6-foot-4 range. In his first game of 2022 (he made a one-game MLB debut at the end of 2021), Cruz threw the ball harder than any MLB infielder so far this season, ran faster than any Pirate has this season and hit the ball harder than any Pirate has this season. Coming into the season, Baseball Prospectus ranked him the No. Until Tuesday, when Pittsburgh finally ended its particularly obnoxious campaign of service time manipulation, he was one of the most exciting players left in the minor leagues. And he’s not a novelty act or a fringe player with a cool quirk. You see, Cruz is 6-foot-7, and he plays shortstop. The thrill of Cruz’s potential was all there, pure visual stimulus. Aaron Judge’s height with Tyreek Hill’s speed.Īnyone who was actually convinced to turn on the Pirates game needed no further analogies. When the Pittsburgh Pirates summoned top prospect Oneil Cruz this week, those attempting to explain the excitement around him had to reach into other realms for comparisons.
0 kommentar(er)
