The Pittsburgh Pirates have a special talent on their hands in 6-foot-7 shortstop Oneil Cruz. The rookie has impressed on both sides of the ball early in his MLB career, showing off his tantalizing power with the bat and his uncanny arm strength in the infield. He added to his lore on Wednesday when he set the Statcast era record for the fastest exit velocity on a hit in MLB history. Cruz torched a ball from Braves SP Kyle Wright on Wednesday that registered at 122.4 mph off the bat.

Cruz shattered the record previously held by Giancarlo Stanton, who grounded into a double play against the Kansas City Royals in 2021 on a ball hit 122.2 mph. Cruz only recorded a single on the hit that ricocheted off the wall, simply due to how hard he hit it.

 

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Prior to that rocket of a single in the third inning against the Braves, Cruz's hardest hit ball of the season came off the bat at 118.4 mph. That was still the fourth-hardest hit in MLB this season, trailing only Stanton, Shohei Ohtani, and Aaron Judge. Now, Cruz has topped all of those guys, and the rest of the league, with his absolute missile off the bat on Wednesday.

Oneil Cruz has only played 54 games in his MLB career (52 this season) and is already the owner of one of the most impressive feats of strength in league history. Pirates fans should be fired up over the game-changing talent they have on their hands, and he should only continue to get better as he matures in the batter's box. Wednesday's ripper was just a taste of what Cruz can bring to the table as he continues to develop.