Oneil Cruz stepped off the plate Tuesday night.
The Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop not only forced extra innings with a key double in the bottom of the ninth inning at PNC Park, but he also had three hits with exit velocities over 115, something that had never been done before in the Statcast era. He was absolutely smashing the ball.
Cruz led off the Pirates’ 7-6 victory over the San Francisco Giants with a first-inning single that left his bat hitting an impressive 120.4 miles per hour. That was the most hit ball in the Major Leagues so far this season.
Then, after a 116.3 mph double in the third, Cruz did it again. He broke his own season record with a 121.5 mph double that hit the right field wall and scored Ji Hwan Bae in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the game. That forced extra innings and ultimately set them up for victory in the 10th.
Cruz is now the first player in the Statcast era to record three hits at 115 mph or faster in a single game, and the first player to have multiple hits at over 120 mph in the same night. Since Statcast was introduced in 2015, only 20 balls have been hit at 120 mph or faster. Cruz owns three of them, including a record single of 122.4 mph that he reached in 2022.
“I can try to do the same thing, but I mean, it’s probably like his ass swing,” Pirates second baseman Jared Triolo said. via Post-Gazette. “That’s my best veil.”
Cruz is hitting .260 at the plate this season. He has seven home runs and 19 RBIs with a .303 OBP. The 25-year-old is in his fourth season with the Pirates, who now have a 23-26 record after Tuesday’s win. They have now won four of their last five, putting them third in the NL Central standings.
