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What Leads Oneil Cruz to the Easy Power Numbers He’s Shown Lately?

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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Over the past few weeks, we have seen Oneil Cruz appear to barely swing at a ball on several occasions, only for that ball to end up over the fence.

Clearly, this is what has the baseball world salivating over the 6-foot-7 power hitter. Below is exhibit A of that effortless power.

Indianapolis hitting coach Eric Munson gets a chance to see Cruz every day. Munson said that increased effort level is actually at times detrimental to Cruz’s hacks. When Cruz trusts his effort on his swings is when we see a stretch like this.

“With [Cruz], he has so much leverage when he swings,” Munson said. “He gets himself in good positions and makes really good moves. With him, it’s a lot about effort level. When he’s smooth and easy, it’s really good. He just has to monitor that, and try not to over swing. You see the results. When he’s doing that, it comes off hot.”

Cruz has eight home runs and an OPS hovering around .900 in his last 28 games, after an ice-cold start to the season.

Munson feels there has not been much that has changed with Cruz’s swing. He remains ultimately impressed with the slugger’s mechanics.

“He has really good feel with the bat,” Munson said. “He has good feel with his body. He understands how his body moves. We just really try to keep it simple with him and give him really easy things to think about. There’s really not a lot of the mechanics that you want to mess with, because he makes really good moves. Really, it’s just about approach and letting him be himself.”

Much like Cruz checking his watch around second after a homer, the clock seems to be ticking until he arrives in Pittsburgh.

Ryan Palencer
Ryan Palencer
Ryan has been following Indianapolis baseball for most of his life, and the Pirates since they became the affiliate in 2005. He began writing for Pirates Prospects in 2013, in a stint that ran through 2016 (with no service time manipulation played in). Ryan rejoined the team in 2022, covering Indianapolis once again. He has covered the Pirates in four different big league stadiums. Ryan was also fortunate enough to cover the 2015 Futures Game in Cincinnati.

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