The Pittsburgh Pirates lost star shortstop Oneil Cruz to a serious injury.
Cruz injured himself on Easter Sunday as he attempted to slide into home plate. He banged into Chicago White Sox catcher Seby Zavala, an incident that sparked a bench-clearing brawl at PNC Park.
Cruz left the game and team doctors diagnosed the shortstop with a fractured ankle.
“Pirates manager Derek Shelton says O’Neil Cruz suffered a fractured left ankle from the collision at home plate,” WTOV9 reporter Jack Hillgrove tweeted.
Pirates manager Derek Shelton says O’Neil Cruz suffered a fractured left ankle from the collision at home plate. @WTOV9
— Jack Hillgrove (@JackWTOV9) April 9, 2023
The Pirates, with all due respect, don’t have too much to be excited about. The team figures to be one of the worst teams in the National League this season. But Oneil Cruz is a bright spot. The 6-foot-7, 220-pound shortstop’s rocket arm and bat excite a lot of Pirates and MLB fans around.
So the fact that Cruz broke his ankle and will likely miss significant is a huge and brutal blow. Not just for the Pirates and their fans, but all of MLB as well.
The MLB world reacted to the horrible news.
Jeff Passan called it “brutal news” for Pittsburgh and its shortstop.
Brutal news for Pittsburgh: shortstop Oneil Cruz fractured his ankle after an awkward slide into home plate. White Sox catcher Seby Zavala appeared to say something to Cruz afterward, prompting a benches-clearing incident as Cruz writhed on the ground nearby.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 9, 2023
The Good Phight, a Philadelphia Phillies blog, tweeted that they hate to see this.
Hate to see this. https://t.co/M5Pk7SVlej
— The Good Phight (@TheGoodPhight) April 9, 2023
Another user was in dismay, as they went to look up tickets for when the Pirates play in San Francisco for Cruz.
one of the most electric players in baseball out for a couple of months on a freak play. I was looking up tickets yesterday for when Pirates are in SF on Memorial Day. man https://t.co/YrN6V5fiRi
— sick public transit, gloria (@seungylee14) April 9, 2023
And Cardinals beat writer John Denton called it “awful news for the young Pirates star.”
Awful news for the young #Pirates star. The #STLCards host Pittsburgh at Busch Stadium for four games later this week (April 13-16). https://t.co/ptUdevBcBv
— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) April 9, 2023
