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OT: Raise the Jolly Roger: Congrats to the Houston Cheaters on their win

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ImporterExporter said:
Cruz's bat currently would be very helpful. However, right on que, another throwing error.

He can DH and occasionally start in the field.
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Personally, I'd rather they hold on to him another month in AAA. Make a point with the guy. Maybe he'll take LF seriously then.

I just talked with one of my acquaintances that used to coach with the Bucs. Cruz joined the organization above where this guy was coaching, hence this is not direct info, but rather a rumor among Pirate MiLB coaches below his level several years ago.

"Oneil was having attitude issues, and refused Outfield training." I'm unclear if this was year 1, or year 2 with the organization for Cruz. My guy kind of saw Oneil's side of things a bit in refusing the Outfield, as his shortstop play was surprisingly good given what they'd heard of him coming in from all accounts. The coach at least saw some bit of logic in the rumored decision, from Cruz's perspective.

On that note, I'm now going to discontinue my Oneil Cruz agitating. Could be overreacting to that classic demonstrative Latin flair, which Cruz definitely has.

But the easy power is just insane, I'm in awe. So I've lowered my expectations and now can enjoy a very interesting player, with huge strengths and huge weaknesses. One who's got a very slight but very real shot at "Greatness", but at the very least is likely to be quite entertaining.

 
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Do you guys believe Henry Davis has the native flexibility to play Catcher long-term? Personally, I'm not totally sure he does. I'm going to have to see development there.
 
Gallatin said:
Personally, I'd rather they hold on to him another month in AAA. Make a point with the guy. Maybe he'll take LF seriously then.

I just talked with one of my acquaintances that used to coach with the Bucs. Cruz joined the organization above where this guy was coaching, hence this is not direct info, but rather a rumor among Pirate MiLB coaches below his level several years ago.

"Oneil was having attitude issues, and refused Outfield training." I'm unclear if this was year 1, or year 2 with the organization for Cruz. My guy kind of saw Oneil's side of things a bit in refusing the Outfield, as his shortstop play was surprisingly good given what they'd heard of him coming in from all accounts. The coach at least saw some bit of logic in the rumored decision, from Cruz's perspective.

On that note, I'm now going to discontinue my Oneil Cruz agitating. Could be overreacting to that classic demonstrative Latin flair, which Cruz definitely has.

But the easy power is just insane, I'm in awe. So I've lowered my expectations and now can enjoy a very interesting player, with huge strengths and huge weaknesses. One who's got a very slight but very real shot at "Greatness", but at the very least is likely to be quite entertaining.

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You can tell he's had some maturity issues by the way he carries himself on the field. He's not always hustling like a Marcano. He's not as focused as Marcano (see defensive consistency, which heavily favors the latter even though Marcano is younger).

But Cruz has natural ability that Marcano doesn't. I think everyone can see that certainly. It's getting him to a point where he is solely focused on baseball and understands that he has a chance to be incredible. One of the greats of today. BUT HE has to want it. Natural ability only gets you so far.

THAT's where I think the elite Cruz will come from. He has to want it. Period.


Gallatin said:
Do you guys believe Henry Davis has the native flexibility to play Catcher long-term? Personally, I'm not totally sure he does. I'm going to have to see development there.
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From what I've seen, he'll likely never be a plus catcher. Is a bit to stiff and doesn't have the short area quickness that good defensive guys have. Has an absolute cannon though. Priester touched on that and you can see it, even when guys steal, which is like 85-90%, IIRC.

Then again, he has incredible work ethic. You can tell he's a natural leader and try hard guy and people rave about how much he puts into the game. So I wouldn't write him off completely. Certainly not this early.

But make no mistake, his bat will always be the calling card and I think it can be upper echelon, certainly for a C, but I mean in an overall sense.
 
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ImporterExporter said:
You can tell he's had some maturity issues by the way he carries himself on the field. He's not always hustling like a Marcano. He's not as focused as Marcano (see defensive consistency, which heavily favors the latter even though Marcano is younger).

But Cruz has natural ability that Marcano doesn't. I think everyone can see that certainly. It's getting him to a point where he is solely focused on baseball and understands that he has a chance to be incredible. One of the greats of today. BUT HE has to want it. Natural ability only gets you so far.

THAT's where I think the elite Cruz will come from. He has to want it. Period.




From what I've seen, he'll likely never be a plus catcher. Is a bit to stiff and doesn't have the short area quickness that good defensive guys have. Has an absolute cannon though. Priester touched on that and you can see it, even when guys steal, which is like 85-90%, IIRC.

Then again, he has incredible work ethic. You can tell he's a natural leader and try hard guy and people rave about how much he puts into the game. So I wouldn't write him off completely. Certainly not this early.

But make no mistake, his bat will always be the calling card and I think it can be upper echelon, certainly for a C, but I mean in an overall sense.
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That's how I see Cruz as well. Hopefully he gets past his ego. It was kind of interesting to get some of my biases confirmed by a legit Bucs Coach, but also have him explain a few things to me about Latin players, and the need to get buy-in when making significant changes to a player's career.

I think this info is from the end of the Huntington years, when they told players what to do, instead of consulted with them, convincing them, seducing them to make changes of their own accord. I think that's the unsaid thing I was being told last night. The real difference between the new front office and the old front office.

I really thought Davis would look better behind the plate by now. Without big improvement this year, I'm all for moving him, arm be damned. Should be 1b or RF, if he's not a catcher I want him working on this stuff in the Arizona Fall League.

And he seems to get hit so much, I'd rather not see him get beat up constantly behind the plate too. That will wear down a player's performance. I'm very close to wanting to pull the trigger on him moving.

If that's what the Bucs are thinking, taking a catcher in the first round again this year is a real possibility....
 
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There must be something to the Pirates development that goes wrong at AAA. We just don’t tend see the discipline and effectiveness we see from hitters developed in some of the other systems
 
Encouraged by Marcano and Reynolds at the plate. Just sucks pretty much everyone else seems to have gone cold.

Consecutive subpar starts from Quintana is a bit of a bummer but the offense needs to show up
 
KesselMania said:
Are we sure he’s not crowding the plate? No one’s luck is that bad
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Apparently opposing teams think so. I see a guy who has an open stance, closes pretty aggressively which likely is partly the culprint as he's naturally going towards the pitches with his front foot. He's definitely on the inner 3rd of the box once he closes but I don't think he's on top of the plate.
 
I'd love to get news tomorrow AM that Cruz is coming up for Castillo. Marcano has been fabulous defensively amd can take the primary starts at short until proven he can't handle it. Cruz can move around and DH, but his bat is on fire legitimately and it's beyond obvious we need the potential thunder.
 
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