Pittsburgh Pirates centerfielder Oneil Cruz has been in a terrible month-long slump that has tanked his season numbers and severely limited an already-bad offense. Even worse, he has had a couple of plays over the past week that just looked bad from an effort standpoint. One of those happened late in Tuesday’s 9-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers when he did not run hard on a double-play ball. That resulted in manager Don Kelly removing him from the game. When asked about it after the game Kelly said it was about “energy and effort,” and he would not commit to him starting Wednesday afternoon’s game. He acknowledged Cruz is working hard to get out of his slump and that he was made aware of what the expectation for effort is, but that he simply fell short in this instance. Cruz was accepting of the decision and said it can be a learning experience and teaching moment. Cruz is the Pirates’ best and most dynamic offensive player, and through the first two months of the season, he looked to be on track for a brea
