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Chapter 1: What mistakes did O'Neal Cruz make in last season's opener?
And I agreed with the decision to pull him. I mean, my God, you want to subject him to another fly ball to center field? Skeens wasn't good, but he gets out of that inning and I think probably settles down, if not for the mishaps in center field. And by the way, by the way, the guy who called defending crews in the last segment was talking about how he still knew in center field.
He made two mistakes in last year's opener. He was moved to center field in August of 24. And this guy's defending him. You may have forgotten, but Gormie the Owl reminded us with a 4-2 lead in the eighth inning last year. In the opener in Miami, Cruz threw to the wrong base. He tried to throw out a guy at home instead of preventing a guy from getting to second.
That guy got to second and was driven in with a tying run. Then in the ninth inning, he couldn't track down a Nick Fortes fly ball to deep right center, and the ball bounced off the base of the wall for a triple, and then came the walk-off single. So don't tell me, caller from last segment, that this is still a novice in center field. It's not.
It's a guy who just spent a whole year plus playing the position and allegedly working at it this offseason, and maybe he'll still be better. Maybe this will be a little blip when we go back and look and say, remember that opening day when it looked like Cruz's troubles were only continuing and then he turned into Willie Mays. How wrong we were.
I don't think we're going to be saying that, Charlie. I don't think he can play center field, unfortunately. Very unfortunately for his pitchers, number one. What do you do about it? Well, you keep playing him now. I don't think you bench him or anything like that. I wouldn't bat him leadoff. I wouldn't have batted him leadoff to start the season. That wouldn't have been my choice.
I wanted him to bat lower in the lineup. I think you can't forget how he finished last season and how truly, truly bad it really got for him at the plate. I think it was combined around 150 in August and September. It was beyond alarming, and nobody really was paying attention because the Pirates were so bad. 4-1-2, 9-2-8, 93-70. To that point, Joe, at leadoff, Cruz is batting .229.
When he hits third, he hits .262. Yeah, I'd have him sixth or seventh. He hits .258 when he hits seventh. I don't care. Fan Twitter brought to you by South Hills Kia. Peter's Township. Visit them at SouthHillsKia.net. The fan text line brought to you by Edgar Steiner and Associates, a personal injury law firm where they always say there's never a fee unless we get money for you. And you can hear.
This show on demand on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts. And finally, Dr. Borges, the fan hotline presented by Sullivan Super Service, Pittsburgh's trusted plumbing and HVAC provider for over 50 years. Let's get back to the phone lines, shall we? This is a little old school sports talk radio today. We have a topic or two and people going crazy.
Let's go to Shriver and Cranberry. Avery Shriver, how are you? Avery Shriver. Who's that? He's an old school. Look it up. Google it. Google Avery Shriver. You'll be very proud.
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Chapter 2: What unique idea did a caller propose for O'Neal Cruz at PNC Park?
And that's always a bad sign.
Please continue. We're in territory for you to be out there taking the ball from Paul in the first inning. What do you say to him in that situation? And how do you think he reacted to you coming out there and getting him?
I'm sure you know Paul. He's a competitor. He wants to stay out there and pitch, and it's a really tough thing going to get him in the first inning right there. At the bottom of it is Paul's health. You get up to getting close to 40 pitches and 37 pitches, and Lindor had a seven-pitch at bat.
Chapter 3: How does Joe feel about Don Kelly's comments after the recent loss?
That first at bat, if he runs another seven to ten, you're into dangerous territory with a starting pitcher in one inning, so we had to make the move. Tommy, overall, you guys walked nine today. Just how costly was that? Yeah, we have to put the ball in the zone. And finally, we've got to throw strikes.
That's been the bread and butter of what our pitching staff is all about and fully trust that we'll make the adjustment.
Man, I sure hope so. Because getting the ball over the plate is a good thing. Yes, we have to throw strikes. We have to throw hard. We have to catch routine fly balls. All these things would be good. Not stumble in the infield. Move runners over. Come on! I know it's only one game. But I also understand why people are freaking out. Get the ball over the plate. Yes, that's a good idea. Next.
What did you see from Skeens today? I mean, that's a tough inning.
We had the two walks and the hit-by-pitch, but when you don't make those two plays in center field, it makes it tough because they could have been out. The first one was a really tough play. Line drive Adam, he took a step in. The second one with the sun ball. It's one of those things where the defense cost us some pitches and then cost Paul the first inning there.
I'm not sure. That's enough. Oh, well, no. Play Noah, because that was the World Baseball Classic question. I'm sorry, Nelly.
There was talk on the broadcast about the World Baseball Classic potentially getting him out of his rhythm this spring. Do you subscribe to that theory at all?
I don't, you know, just because... That game could have happened whether the World Baseball Classic happened or not. I don't think that the World Baseball Classic played anything into that.
And I sure hope not. But every pitcher who pitched in the World Baseball Classic was out of rhythm, had a different offseason because they had to ramp their arms up to the highest of high-level intensity pitching in March, which you normally don't do. Fact. It's just a fact. That's all. We'll see as this season plays out whether that has any effect on some of these guys.
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