Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz was benched in Tuesday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers after he lost track of outs and failed to run out a ground ball double play.
Eventually, they lost the game by 9-3 to Milwaukee. Pirates manager Don Kelly removed Oneil from the game because of the “energy and effort going down the line.” These were the exact words of Don Kelly.
Kelly said after the game, “We talked, he knows the expectation. Right there, I feel we fell a little short.”
Cruz took responsibility for the mental error on his part.
“DK had all the rights to do what he did, and I’ll back him up on that,” Cruz said after the game. “It was my fault because I thought there were two outs in that situation. That’s why I let off running to first base.”
This incident comes just a few days after an ugly-looking play from Cruz against the Texas Rangers.
In this season, Cruz is slashing .211/.326/.410 (103 OPS+) with 13 home runs and a National League-leading 26 stolen bases in 70 games for the Pirates. He is playing his first season as a primary center fielder. This season, his advanced defensive metrics are mixed on his performance. He is 87th percentile with 3 outs this season, according to Statcast.
The team is in last place, and Tuesday’s loss saw them go down further this season. They are 32-49 this season, and that puts them on a 98-loss pace. After a few more losses, they will be on the hook for 100 or more losses for the third time in the last five seasons.