Pirates SS Oneil Cruz sets another Statcast record with 117.5-mph homer at Brewers

Oneil Cruz gave an indicator of how hard he was swinging from the start against the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night, when he hit a leadoff line drive right at second baseman Kolten Wong.

The recorded exit velocity of 113.8 mph was just a fraction of a tick faster than the second time the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 6-foot-7, 220-pound rookie shortstop made contact. His groundout to third base in the third inning was clocked at 113.2 mph. At that point, they were the two hardest hits of the game.

“He can’t control if they catch the ball,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said on the AT&T SportsNet postgame show. “If he hits the ball at that rate, that hard, he’s going to be in a good spot.”

Cruz put himself in a spot atop all Pirates when he crushed a Corbin Burnes cutter 437 feet for a three-run home run into the second deck in right field at American Family Field in the fifth inning for a one-run lead in the eventual 7-5 walk-off loss.

Turn up the sound, and listen to the bat crack!

That's the sound of the @Pirates taking the lead in Milwaukee!

Oneil Cruz's 11th round-tripper of the year, makes it 4-3 Bucs in the 5th - on AT&T SportsNet!#LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/VSo74oKsT6

— AT&T SportsNet™ PIT (@ATTSportsNetPIT) August 30, 2022

The homer was recorded at a 117.5-mph exit velocity, the hardest hit ball by a Pirates player in the Statcast era. Per ESPN, Cruz now owns four of the top eight hardest hits by a Pirates player since Statcast started tracking such numbers in 2015.

The other three went for singles, including his first major league hit at 118.2 mph, another one recorded at 118.4 earlier this season and a 122.4 mph blast off the Clemente Wall against Atlanta on Aug. 24.

Related Oneil Cruz news:

• Pirates rookie Oneil Cruz sets Statcast record for hardest hit with 112.4-mph single

• Pirates rookie shortstop Oneil Cruz searches for consistency amid struggles at the plate

• ‘I’m going to swing it hard’: Pirates SS Oneil Cruz producing eye-popping exit velocities

This one was the 11th homer in 56 games this season for Cruz, and it raised his batting average to .200 (41 for 205). With 83 strikeouts, Cruz has been focusing on improving his pitch selection.

“It feels great, especially because I’ve been diligently putting a lot of work in specifically for that,” Cruz said through translator Mike Gonzalez. “Just getting better at-bats, taking a better look at pitch sequences and getting a better eye of the zone and also eliminating parts of the (strike) zone.”

Today in “Grainy Press Box Videos,” Oneil Cruz just hit a ball off the Brewers logo just above the AmFam ad. That was quite a show. pic.twitter.com/oI3U3rma66

— Curt Hogg (@CyrtHogg) August 29, 2022

That Cruz did it against 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner Burnes only made it more impressive. Six of his 11 homers have come against the Brewers, and two of those came off Burnes.

That put Cruz in the company of Pirates greats Roberto Clemente, Manny Sanguillen and Willie Stargell as players to hit multiple homers off a reigning Cy Young winner in a single season. Clemente had two against Bob Gibson in 1969 and three against Ferguson Jenkins in 1972, and Sanguillen and Stargell hit a pair off Steve Carlton in 1973.

Oneil Cruz vs Corbin Burnes#LetsGoBucs

Home Run ????

Exit velo: 117.5 mph
Launch angle: 21 deg
Proj. distance: 437 ft

No doubt about that one ????
That's a dinger in all 30 MLB ballparks

PIT (4) @ MIL (3)
???? 5th pic.twitter.com/WoJlWzlmjh

— Would it dong? (@would_it_dong) August 30, 2022

Cruz now owns three of the nine hardest-hit balls against Burnes — all coming in the same game — so it’s no wonder Shelton credited Cruz for “making strides forward” with his approach at the plate. The record exit velocities are an indicator that Cruz is making hard contact, which typically leads to good results.

“That’s the one thing we can hang our hat on, when guys are taking good swings, and they’re hitting the ball hard,” Shelton said. “That’s a really good thing. Now if he hits a line drive at 113 right at the second baseman or a ground ball, we just have to keep going. Definitely progress with him. Good swings throughout the entire night.”

Oneil Cruz has 3 batted balls with an exit velocity over 110mph tonight.

It's the 5th inning. pic.twitter.com/26TDx5BM8q

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) August 30, 2022

Six of Cruz’s 11 homers this season have come against the Brewers, including in back-to-back games June 30 and July 2 and Aug. 2-3 at PNC Park. That more than half of his homers are against an NL Central Division rival is an indicator that Cruz likes to bat against the Brewers.

“I just feel like there’s ballplayers that do a little bit better against certain teams, and I do pretty well against this team,” Cruz said. “My mindset is always to go out there and work hard and do everything I can to help the team win. Against this team, I feel pretty good.”