A 6-foot-7 shortstop? Probably not for Pirates

Oneil Cruz insists he’s a shortstop. One problem: genetics.

The Dominican Republic native was 6-foot-1 or so 16-year-old when the Pittsburgh Pirates signed him. The tools — particularly the power and arm strength — were evident. So was the potential, writes Will Graves of The Associated Press.

That potential has only grown over the last half-decade plus. So too, however, has Cruz’s frame. The 22-year-old has stretched out to 6 feet, 7 inches during his slow steady rise through Pittsburgh’s system.

“To this day I’m still praying that I stop growing,” Cruz said with a smile on Thursday.

It might already be too late. While teams are becoming increasingly more comfortable with keeping taller prospects at short — San Diego’s Fernando Tatis Jr., Corey Seager of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston’s Carlos Correa are all 6 feet, 4 inches — Cruz might already be too far gone.

Though the Pirates have insisted their long-range plans include giving Cruz every opportunity at shortstop, they are hedging their bets of late.

It’s an opportunity Cruz considers himself lucky to have. His career entered a crossroads last September when the SUV he was driving collided with a motorcycle, killing three people. He was arrested and the district attorney said Cruz had ingested an unspecified amount of alcohol. Cruz, however, was not administered a test of any kind and the Pirates contend the assertion alcohol was involved is not true.

While Cruz declined to talk about the accident and the status of the case, he was cleared to return to the United States and said he is currently “at peace.”

Trivia question

Mercury Morris and Larry Csonka of the 1972 Miami Dolphins were the first NFL teammates to each rush for 1,000 yards in the same season. Who were the second pair?

He said it

From Joe Frazier before his March 8, 1971 fight with Muhammad Ali: “Kill the body and the head dies.” Frazier followed his plan and dealt Ali his first loss in 32 professional bouts, a bout that went down as “The Fight of the Century.”

Trivia answer

Four years after Morris and Csonka did it, Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier, who turns 75 today, also accomplished the feat. Bleier spent nine months in Vietnam as a grenadier. He was shot in his left thigh and moments later received grenade shrapnel in his lower right leg, losing part of his foot. He received the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, and was told he would never play football again.

COMPILED BY BOYCE GARRISON