Mark Madden's Hot Take: For Pirates to succeed, Oneil Cruz has to help more than he hurts

Oneil Cruz giveth and he taketh away.

The Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop did the latter this past Wednesday when he made three errors, including two on the same play. Cruz’s miscues led directly to three unearned runs and a 5-4 loss at Houston.

Cruz did the former Friday when he went 5 for 5, scoring twice and driving in two. But Cruz didn’t giveth quite enough as the Pirates lost 9-8 at home to Arizona. (Cruz also made an error. It didn’t lead to any unearned runs, but it was his MLB-leading 21st of the season.)

Cruz’s good has to outweigh his bad by more than it does. A player of his considerable acumen can’t operate on a zero-sum basis.

Many of Cruz’s mistakes revolve around him not knowing how to play baseball.

Witness Cruz’s Keystone Kops routine Wednesday.

Little League shortstops know to let the outfielder take a pop-up in that no-man’s land between outfield and infield. The outfielder is coming forward, not going backward, and has better sight of the play. But Cruz nonetheless bumbled into left fielder Bryan Reynolds. The ball dropped, and calamity ensued.

Cruz is also chock full of hubris.

Cruz has a gun for an arm, and likes to have fun with it. On grounders to short, he often appears to spot batters a couple of steps so he can gun them out via velocity. No good can come from that.

The Pirates should move Cruz to another position, one where he can’t screw up as much. Right field comes to mind.

But you can’t do that in early August. Too disruptive. Maybe next season.

But Cruz probably won’t want to ever switch positions. He’s more visible at shortstop. That hubris again.

Even after his five-hit outburst on Friday, Cruz is hitting just .257 with 17 home runs and an OPS of .777.

That’s not good enough for a player of his ability. Nor is it satisfactory considering what Cruz will want to get paid when he hits arbitration in 2026.

It’s also not good enough if the Pirates want to grab a wild card.

Cruz is an overwhelming talent, maybe the Pirates’ biggest besides Paul Skenes. If the Pirates are to make the playoffs, Cruz can’t hurt as much as he helps.