When was Oneil Cruz drafted into the MLB?

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All you need to know about when was Oneil Cruz drafted into the MLB, and how has his career transpired since then.

Oneil Cruz
Oneil Cruz draft

Oneil Cruz is a shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball. He was born on October 4, 1998, and currently plays for the team. The Dominican Republic is his country of origin. Cruz was not selected in the draught like many of the other players in the league; rather, he was brought in as an international free agent.

Cruz became a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers organisation in July 2015 after signing with them as an international free agent for a signing bonus of $950,000. He made his professional debut the following year with the DSL Dodgers 1 team, where he hit.294 with 23 runs batted in (RBIs) across 55 games.

In 2017, the Los Angeles Dodgers made a deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates to acquire Tony Watson in exchange for Nelson Cruz and Angel German. After that, he was placed in charge of the West Virginia Power. Between the two teams, he played a total of 105 games and slashed. 237/297/350 batting average with 10 home runs and 44 runs batted in.

In 2018, he was a member of the West Virginia Power and earned South Atlantic League All-Star honors after hitting.286, collecting 14 home runs and 56 RBIs while playing in 103 games. Cruz started the 2019 season playing for the Bradenton Marauders at the Class A-Advanced level before suffering a fracture to his right foot.

After the conclusion of the 2019 campaign, the Pirates decided to include Cruz on their 40-man roster. In 2021, Cruz made his debut in the Major League Baseball (MLB) after being activated for the first time on the active roster. During the 2021 season, he made two appearances in the Major Leagues and hit the first home run of his career on October 3, 2021, in Pittsburgh.

In the year 2022, it was decided that Cruz would not be selected for the club coming out of spring training, therefore he was sent down to Triple-A Indianapolis to start the year. He played in five games during spring training and had a batting average of 333 with two home runs. [15] On June 20, he made his first appearance of the season after being summoned for the game against the Chicago Cubs. In that game, he collected two hits, two runs, and four RBIs.

Cruz hit the ball with the greatest force ever recorded in the Statcast era when he faced Atlanta Braves pitcher Kyle Wright on August 24, 2022. The speed of the ball was measured at 197.0 kilometres per hour (122.4 miles per hour). A recent injury will prevent him from playing for the Pirates, despite the fact that he is now a regular member of the team.

Oneil Cruz recently suffered a major injury

Oneil Cruz suffers a major injury
Oneil Cruz suffers a major injury

Oneil Cruz, the shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates, is expected to be out of action for at least four months after undergoing surgery to repair a fracture in his left ankle, according to a statement that was issued by the team on Monday. During the game that took place yesterday afternoon, Cruz sustained injuries when he collided with Seby Zavala, the catcher for the Chicago White Sox, at home plate. The Chicago White Sox were victorious in the game.

The substantial injury that required medical care was caused by Cruz’s sloppy slide into home plate, as well as the activities that followed it. After a while, he was unable to put any weight on his left leg, so he had to be helped off the pitch in order to prevent further injury.

When the benches were cleared, there was no physical confrontation, and no one was ejected from the game as a result. Immediately following the clearing of the benches, Santana took the plate with Zavala behind the plate for his first at-bat, and the at-bat passed without any incidents occurring.

A walk put Cruz, who is 24 years old, on base, while a single hit by Bryan Reynolds earlier in the inning moved Cruz up to third place. Cruz got on base owing to the walk. Bryan Reynolds hit the single. He entered the game on Sunday with a batting line of.267/.378/.400 and almost exactly the same amount of walks (six) as strikeouts. The game was played on Sunday (eight). Cruz posted a batting line of.233/.294/.450 after participating in 87 games during the previous season, which was satisfactory enough to earn him a position on the team’s Opening Day roster.

Cruz was a consensus top 25 prospect in baseball moving into the year 2022, and he is a crucial piece for a Pirates team that is looking to transition out of rebuilding and into contention in the near future. The Pirates are currently in the process of trying to win the National League Central Division. Moreover, Cruz was ranked among the best 25 prospects in all of baseball moving into the year 2022.

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