Pittsburgh Pirates fans haven’t had much to get excited about in recent years, but Oneil Cruz might be the one to change all of that.
The 6-foot-7 shortstop (!!!) played a couple games in 2021 and was back with the big club on Monday to make his 2022 debut. And oh man, he certainly knew how to make an impression.
In the third inning of the Pirates’ game against the Cubs, Cruz fielded a grounder off the bat of Willson Contreras and unleashed the hardest throw across the infield we’ve seen this MLB season. The throw was clocked at 96.7 mph and it looked like a laser beam making its way across the diamond.
So: ONeil Cruz has been back up for about 25 minutes. He's already got the hardest tracked throw by an infielder of the season (96.7). I think that's going to work. pic.twitter.com/0vOCbs6BVo
— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) June 21, 2022
It’s not every game that you hear a broadcast booth get excited about a throw from shortstop, but that throw was just something else. It didn’t even look real. You can forgive the double-clutch on the throw with an arm like that.
On top of showing off the arm, Cruz went 2 for 5 with 4 RBI in the 12-1 win. MLB fans understandably couldn’t get over that throw.
