Gold Glove Winner Wanted More Time with Pirates' Oneil Cruz
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PITTSBURGH — There's no doubt Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz could use some work defensively and one player has helped him out with that, but wants to do even more.
Cruz trained with Kevin Kiermaier this offseason down in Florida on his defensive work. Kiermaier, a four-time Gold Glove Award winner in 2015-16, 2019 and 2022, plus a Platinum Gold Glove Award winner in 2015, as he prepared for his second full season in center field.
The Pirates see a great athlete in Cruz, who has an incredible arm, but is also a player adjusting to a new position, after playing shortstop for most of his life, and has struggled with different aspects of the role.
Kiermaier spoke with Brian Kenny on MLB NOW on MLB Network that he wish he had more time to work with Cruz, even contacting the Pirates to try and see when they could get more work in.
He conceded that it was tough with Cruz playing for Team Dominican Republic at the World Baseball Classic to get any time, but that he believes that he could help him get even better if he had more chances to train with him.
“Yes. He does. He has the ability, you have all the intangibles, but the mental process and the decision making and experience is a huge factor," Kiermaier said.
"I got to work with him for very little time and I knew I needed more time with him. I did everything in my power to reach out to Pittsburgh to try to make that happen and the World Baseball Classic, I know that kind of put a wrench in things, but for him to represent his country, awesome.
"Baseball happens and you get thrown right into the fire with certain things like this and it magnifies everything and I just feel like with a guy with, he’s never played there before. He played infield his whole life.
"I don’t care how good an athlete is or what you think they can do, it’s hard to go out there, no matter how long you played baseball, it’s so hard to play a different position. I was such a good outfielder. There’s no part of me that, I would’ve been the worst infielder in the big leagues by far, because I wasn’t prepared for it.
“So for Oneil, that’s why I said man, I reached out to Pittsburgh plenty, ‘I think he really could just use all the conversations, work on the backfields there in Bradenton in Spring Training. He needs someone like me where I can just sit and think out loud as much as possible.
"With that being said, it’s going to be up to him no matter what at the end of the day and he’s gonna have to sit here. It’s hard during a season now because you want to get ready for 7:00 o’clock every night, but for him, I would be shagging BP like a madman every day just to get that depth perception and get that sight on point and then the athletic ability and his ability to finish plays, it will happen, but there’s baby steps that need to happen along the way."
"He has the ability, he has all the intangibles, but the mental process, decision making and experience is a huge factor..."
— MLB Now (@MLBNow) April 6, 2026
Kevin Kiermaier analyzes Oneil Cruz's defense in center field to start the season. pic.twitter.com/cNkTEL6LmD
Cruz's Struggles in Center Field
It was a tough first season for Cruz in center field in 2025, where he finished with -14 defensive runs saved (DRS) and -11 defensive runs saved above average, both the second worst marks of any qualified MLB center fielder, according to FanGraphs.
His outs above average (OAA) fared better at just zero, but his 11 errors were the most for anyone at his position.
Cruz made some great plays with his arm, like putting in the second-fastest throw home from the outfield in the Statcast era (since 2015), but also misplayed balls and had struggles throughout.
He had a terrible showing in center field on Opening Day this season, starting too far back on a fly ball that ended up as a bases-clearing triple and then lost a ball in the sun that fell for a double and scored another run, totaling four runs allowed on two mistakes in the bottom of the first inning.
Those mistakes led to Pirates manager Don Kelly taking out right-handed starting pitcher Paul Skenes and eventually an 11-7 loss to the New York Mets at Citi Field on March 26.
Cruz hasn't made another big mistake recently, but still has the worst OAA of any center fielder, -2, and tied for the second-worst DRS at the position, also -2.
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.