Pirates' Oneil Cruz Training With Former Gold Glove Award Winner
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PITTSBURGH — Oneil Cruz spent his first full season in center field with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2025 and is currently working towards getting better this winter.
Cruz has spent the past two days working with former center fielder Kevin Kiermaier, which Cruz's trainer, Theo Aasen, posted to his Instagram story.
Kiermaier was excellent defensively as a center fielder, as a four-time Gold Glove Award winner in 2015-16, 2019 and 2022, plus earning a Platinum Gold Glove in 2015.
Cruz, who is working on playing center field for the second straight season, now has great guidance to become a great defender for the future.
Cruz's Difficult 2025 Season in Center Field
The 2025 season was a difficult one for Cruz defensively, after he made the transition from shortstop to center field towards the end of the 2024 campaign.
Cruz started 120 of 125 games in center field and finished with -14 defensive saved (DRS) and -11 defensive runs saved above average, both the second worst marks of any qualified center fielder in the major leagues, according to FanGraphs.
He fared better with Statcast, with zero runs prevented and zero outs above average (OAA), but he still made the most errors of any center fielder with 11.
Cruz had his worst moment of the season in center field against the Texas Rangers at PNC Park on June 20.
He let a single bounce off his glove and go behind him and instead of running back to get it, he stood still and let right fielder Adam Frazier go all the way back and get it. Cruz apologized to manager Don Kelly and he stayed in the rest of the game.
Cruz struggled at times with his positioning and knowing where to be on fly balls. His glove work was also poor sometimes, missing balls that went under him or just completely misjudging them.
That's why the work with Kiermaier is crucial for Cruz, as he learns to play the position better and make the plays needed in center field.
Why There's Hope For Cruz in Center Field
While there were some poor plays made in 2025, Cruz has the athleticism, speed and strength to be a great center fielder.
Cruz threw a ball 105.2 mph from center field, getting Seattle Mariners shortstop JP Crawford out at the plate on July 6 at T-Mobile Park. That throw was the fastest by any Pirates outfielder in the Statcast era (since 2015) and the second fastest throw of any major leaguer.
His arm strength shows the value of having a player use their 6-foot-7, 240-pound frame and throw players out at home or even third base and second base, trying to extend a play.
He is also incredibly quick, able to make up ground and make difficult catches look much easier than they actually are.
Cruz just entered his first year of arbitration and is now at the point of his career where he's starting to push for realizing his potential and becomign the star the Pirates think he can be.
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.