Oneil Cruz of the Pittsburgh Pirates is looking to be one of the best players in all of baseball in the coming years. He hasn’t exactly found that much success in his rookie season, but he’s only played in 52 games this season and has shown more potential than 99% of the MLB.
On the season, Cruz is currently hitting .199, but he has belted 10 home runs. On Wednesday, Oneil Cruz hit the hardest ball ever recorded in MLB history at 122 MPH.
Oneil Cruz Hits Hardest Ball in MLB History
“It’s probably good that ball hit a wall, because it might have hurt somebody if it had been up a little higher,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.
“He’s got skills,” Snitker said. “My God. I mean, as he gets experience and learns and all that, [he’ll improve] … But you start grading tools, and it’s off the charts.
“That ball was scorched,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “It was a good swing by him — a really good swing, really encouraging.”
Cruz had the following to say about breaking the record, according to MLB.com:
“I did notice that it was starting to go down and about to hit the fence,” Cruz said. “That’s when I started running even harder. But I did expect it to go out. I didn’t expect it to hit the wall and come right back.”
“When I came into the dugout, some of my teammates shared with me that I hit it 122 [mph],” Cruz said. “I smiled, but deep down inside I was like, ‘Wow, I really hit that ball hard.’ Now, finding out that I broke a record, it means a lot to me. That’s something positive to take away from today’s game.”
Pirates Found Their Star
The Pirates have been looking for a superstar throughout the past few years and it looks like Oneil Cruz could be exactly that. It’s going to be interesting to see if he pans out, but things are looking bright right now and they should be excited about it.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
