Oneil Cruz hits serious missiles; Rafael Devers’ streak snapped, but chaos reigns

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Last night featured a parade of walk-offs, an exit-velo laser show, and encore performances by Rafael Devers and the art of stealing home. Plus: Is Gerrit Cole returning soon? I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal — welcome to The Windup!

So many walk-offs

We had a rare treat last night: three extra-innings walk-offs across the league. There could be one more added to the ledger, too — the Cardinals and Orioles were tied 1-1 in the middle of the sixth inning when the game was suspended due to weather.

They’ll pick it back up this afternoon before the finale of their three-game series, but in the meantime, let’s appreciate the drama-filled slate we got last night.

• Cubs 4, Braves 3 (10): On the day the Cubs announced that Kyle Hendricks will move to the bullpen, they needed some good news. They got it. Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner returned from the IL, and both made a splash. Swanson went 2-for-4 with a double, and in the 10th inning, Hoerner hit a Baltimore chop to the right side of the infield to walk it off.

• Astros 6, Angels 5 (10): Look out, everyone: The Astros are getting up off the mat. On May 8, they were 12-24. They’re 10-3 since, five games out of first place in the division. Kyle Tucker leads the sport in home runs, and his second dinger of the night (his 17th of the season) tied it in the seventh inning, ultimately sending the game to extras before Jeremy Peña’s single (scoring — who else — Tucker) ended it in the 10th.

• Pirates 7, Giants 6 (10): After trailing 2-0 in the first inning (and 6-2 in the eighth), the Pirates loaded the bases in the ninth and — against closer Camilo Doval — all three runners scored, plus one to tie it. In the 10th it was Nick Gonzales with the clinching single for the comeback win, but for all the excitement, all anybody really wanted to talk about was how Oneil Cruz tried to break the sound barrier with his batted balls. For more on that, let’s throw it to Ken.

Ken’s Notebook: Oneil Cruz put on an exit velocity clinic

I’ll admit, I don’t pray at the Church of Exit Velocity. But on Tuesday night, Cruz, the Pirates’ shortstop, pretty much made me a convert.

Cruz became the first player in the Statcast era to produce three 115+ mph and two 120+ mph batted balls in the same game. I reached out to Pirates hitting coach Andy Haines to see if he was as awestruck as I was.

“Nothing really surprises me at this point with him, to be honest,” said Haines, who assumed his current role in 2021, shortly after Cruz made his major-league debut. “He is the definition of why you buy a ticket to watch a major-league game.”

The craziest thing about Cruz’s jaw-dropping performance? He hit the ball so hard that in the first inning, he wound up with a single instead of a possible double, and in the ninth, his Pirates teammate Bryan Reynolds could not score on his potential go-ahead hit.

Cruz’s double into the right-field corner in the ninth tied the score, but Reynolds was unable to race home from first because the Giants’ Mike Yastrzemski fielded the 121.5-mph shot much more quickly than he would have picked up a normal roller. Cruz’s missile was the hardest-hit ball all season, beating, ahem, his 120.4-mph single in the first — and it came off a 100.3-mph cutter from Doval, no less.

He also hit a 116.3-mph double in the third inning. As Levi mentioned, the Pirates won 7-6 in the 10th.

Oneil Cruz has the THREE hardest-hit balls of the night!

Two of them are the hardest-hit of the SEASON. pic.twitter.com/Oh5q3ZPoHL

— MLB (@MLB) May 22, 2024

So, what’s not to like about all this? The Statcast Era, which began in 2015, enables us to appreciate players in ways we never could. Just last week, the league introduced new bat-tracking data to measure, among other things, bat speed and swing length. The information is fascinating. It keeps getting better. The problem is it does not always provide a complete portrait of a hitter.

Cruz, even after his three-hit night, is batting a mere .260 with a .744 OPS — above league average, but not among the league leaders. If hitting the ball hard was the most important measure of offensive performance, then Giancarlo Stanton would not just be King of Statcast, but also King of New York. Instead, he is a frequent target of frustration for Yankees fans.

Cruz, 25, is nine years younger than Stanton, still full of promise. His exit velocities help enhance our understanding of his ability and provide a window into his vast potential. The joyous, wondrous reaction on X to his record-breaking numbers Tuesday night would not have been the same in the pre-Statcast era, when accurate measures were unavailable.

“It’s a generational-type talent, and really in all facets of the game he can wow you,” Haines said. “The major-league game has presented challenges for him for sure, as it does all young players, but it’s been fascinating to see him respond to those and continue to grow.

“It really is unique and special to watch in person. Tonight was a glimpse of how special of a player he can be in our game.”

Yankees ace Gerrit Cole nearing return

When the news first broke that Yankees ace Gerrit Cole would be on the IL to open the season, the expected timetable for return was somewhere between mid-April and mid-May. Today, keen observers will note, is May 22, and Cole is still on the IL.

Well, there’s finally some good news: Cole pitched live batting practice yesterday, throwing 22 pitches to infielders Oswaldo Cabrera and Jahmai Jones. From Brendan Kuty’s story:

“There was a screen in front of him. He wore his full Yankees uniform because, he said, “I missed wearing it.”

More impressive yet, Cole hit 96 mph, drawing some consternation from pitching coach Matt Blake for throwing too hard. Both Cole and manager Aaron Boone did little to quell optimism, with neither ruling out a June return for last year’s AL Cy Young Award winner.

Not that the Yankees have spiraled in his absence. Going into last night’s 6-3 loss to the Mariners, the Yankees had the league’s third-best ERA by starting pitchers (2.95).

Kuty reports that Cole thinks he’ll need a couple more live BP sessions before he’s ready to start a rehab assignment, so his return isn’t imminent. But after “one to two months” of mystery, at least there now appears to be a rough ETA on a return.

More Yankees: Check out this catch by Cabrera:

Rafael Devers’ streak snapped, but chaos reigns

Sorry, not sorry: We’re doing back-to-back days of Rafael Devers content — and back-to-back days where we talk about stealing home!

First, the bad news: Devers’ home run streak ended at six games, thanks in part to Rays manager Kevin Cash’s decision to intentionally walk him in the eighth inning. That’s frustrating for those of us who wanted to see history, but it made sense — the Rays were only down by one run, and there was a runner on third base. “Don’t let the Blast-Homers-Every-Day guy blast a homer in this situation” is a perfectly reasonable strategy.

Except, with a shot at history taken from his grasp, Devers summoned chaos. With two outs — two outs! — Devers broke for second base. The throw by catcher Ben Rortvedt was there in plenty of time, but as soon as he threw the ball, Jarren Duran broke for home.

Now it’s a party.

Had Lowe snagged the throw and whipped around to tag Devers, the inning would have been over and the run wouldn’t have counted — so long as the tag happened before Duran crossed the plate. But Lowe opted to return fire instead, and everyone was safe.

This play is my favorite baseball gambit. You definitely have to pick your spots — had Devers been tagged out, Boston would have been excoriated by some for trying the double steal (despite the fact they still would have had a one-run lead). Instead, here we are, delighting over gifs of baseball’s most unhinged play.

The Red Sox went on to win 5-2. As Jen McCaffrey informs us, it was Boston’s first series win in Tampa since 2019.

OK, no more stealing home talk tomorrow. Probably.

Handshakes and High Fives

It’s been a while since we got a good old-fashioned dugout meltdown by a manager. Last night, it was David Bell of the Reds, who was frustrated by yet another of his players being hit in the hand/wrist area by a pitch. C. Trent Rosecrans has the latest on the Reds’ injury situation.

Keith Law ranks the top 100 draft-eligible prospects ahead of this year’s MLB draft, which will happen during the All-Star break in July.

Whoa, the Twins had a breakout game, scoring 10 runs against the Nats. See? It was never really the saus— …are you kidding me?!

Chandler Rome takes an interesting look at the delicate dynamics of Yainer Diaz’s first year in Houston as the full-time catcher.

After last night’s game, Ranger Suárez is 9-0 with a 1.36 ERA, a historic start for a Phillies pitcher. Among those who are impressed? His teammates, Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler. Matt Gelb brings us their thoughts on why Suárez has been so good.

Bobby Witt Jr. hit 893 feet worth of home runs last night, driving in six runs in the Royals’ 10-3 win over the Tigers.

Eloy Jiménez missed about two weeks earlier this year with an adductor strain. It appears he’ll be headed back to the IL after straining his left hamstring in the White Sox’s 5-0 win over the Blue Jays.

Sean Murphy could be back in the Braves’ lineup before long. He homered in his rehab assignment yesterday.

Things are looking grim for the Mets of late. Will Sammon breaks down the breakdown.

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(Top photo: Charles LeClaire / USA Today)