MIAMI -- Marlins skipper Clayton McCullough may be a first-year manager for an out-of-division squad, but he’s seen Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz plenty. Cruz got his start in pro ball as a Dodgers prospect at the same time that McCullough was their Minor League field coordinator, and even then, Cruz left an early and lasting impression.

“Always like a really sweet, gentle person with a ton of ability,” McCullough said before Friday’s game at loanDepot park. “He's a Statcast darling. He hits the ball really hard. He can run, he can throw, but for him to be able to kind of put those tools together and mature as he has as a player and turn himself into an everyday Major League player -- I'm really happy for him, because he's just a really good kid who's worked hard to get here.”

On Friday, Cruz showed off those tools, exemplifying why he is one of the game’s premier Statcast-breaking talents. He collected two hits, scored a pair of runs, stole a base and launched a two-run fifth-inning homer 115 mph off his bat, the latter of which ultimately served as the deciding tallies in the Pirates’ 4-3 win over the Marlins.

Cruz's long ball marked the hardest hit across baseball this young season, and it was the fourth time since the start of the 2024 season that Cruz has hit a homer that was at least 115 mph off the bat. The only other players with that many in that time span are Shohei Ohtani (seven) and Aaron Judge (four).

"Oh, that guy's nasty,” Endy Rodríguez said, grinning. “He's just, like, bold and nasty.”

Bold. Nasty. Statcast darling. What other adjectives and descriptors can be used to describe Cruz?

"Tremendous impact,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “It's a game changer.”

How about another one? Unpredictable. Cruz is part of that rare class of players that you don’t dare blink when he’s swinging or uncorking a throw, because he could do something you’ve never seen before. Andrew McCutchen knows it and said as much this spring. The funny part is that laser-beam homers and stolen bases are more or less the norm for Cruz in his eyes. When asked if he might surprise himself with some of his accomplishments, Cruz answered, via coach and interpreter Stephen Morales, "Not really. I know what I've got and am able to do."

Of course, unpredictable can have a negative connotation. Cruz struggled in the field on Opening Day, delivering a throw too high to be cut off in the eighth that led to one run, and then he misplayed a ball off the wall in the ninth that let the eventual winning run reach third. Cruz said after Friday’s game how much it meant that teammates like Tommy Pham helped lift him up and didn't let him dwell on a bad game.

“It's a lot of ups and downs in this game,” Cruz said. “It's like a roller coaster. It's full of emotions. You go up, you go down. It's always good to have games like today, put together games like today as a team, and that's what we did to win."

“I don’t think there was one person in this clubhouse who doesn’t think he can bring it every single night,” said Mitch Keller, who tossed six innings of one-run ball to get the win. “That was kind of the message that we as players talked to him about, ‘Hey, we need you and you’re a good player.’ Everyone sees what kind of player he is.”

There is seemingly no ceiling for Cruz. A 20-homer, 20-steal season seems like just an appetizer of his talents. And if you’re counting down a 30-30 campaign, he’s now just 29 homers and 28 steals away. The Pirates need him to be a catalyst for their offense, and a game like Friday shows that he can put the team on his back.

“That’s exciting to see, because that’s the type of player that he can be every single night,” Keller said.