Pirates' Oneil Cruz Addresses Egregious Fielding Mistake

Cruz spoke on the incident the following day, through intepreter Stephen Morales, and didn't delve too much into it, saying it was just a normal fielding error.

"Nothing. It was just a hard line drive right at me," Cruz said. "I think I trusted myself too much and it just went by me and I made a mistake, an error."

Cruz previously played shortstop, before moving to center field at the end of August 2024. He's played in 87 games in center field, including 65 of them in 2025, with seven errors on the season, two assists and 158 putouts in 167 total chances.

He said that the issue with the mistake he made wasn't a mental error from playing shortstop, but rather, he didn't realize how far Frazier was from the ball when it went behind him.

"On that situation, I knew I missed the ball, and I thought that Frazier, because outfielders are supposed to back each other, I thought Frazier was closer to me," Cruz said. "When I saw him, then I tried to go, he was closer to the ball already. That's why I stayed put."

Pirates manager Don Kelly kept Cruz in the rest of the game and defended his center fielder afterwards, backing him up and praising his effor following the error.

Cruz thanked Kelly for his coaching and the relationship they've had since he was working at shorstop when he first came up, making Kelly a manager he wants to play for.

"It’s always good to have a manager like DK," Cruz said. "He pulled me to the side and he told me … he went straight to the point. But at the same time, he gave me the courage to continue the game and finish the game the way I did. I played hard."

While this mistake might damage some players' confidence, Cruz isn't concerned. He has faith in his talents and his work ethic and that when errors like that happens, he just has to perserve and keep on playing.

"When it comes to the struggles and the mental stuff, I'm not like everybody else," Cruz said. "I'm a really normal guy — I'm not the guy that's like the world's gonna end. I'm just gonna continue to work and trust my abilities, my physical abilities and my ability. Just continue to go out there and play the game."