PITTSBURGH -- ?Oneil Cruz? is a Statcast darling. Whenever he steps onto a field, there¡¯s always the possibility that he generates an absurd number that few can rival. In his season debut on Monday, a 12-1 Pirates win, he let it eat and did just that.?

On an evening when he showed off the full breadth of his talents, Cruz recorded an infield assist with a velocity of 96.7 mph. It was the hardest-thrown assist by any infielder this season, and the third-hardest by an infielder since the stat was first recorded in 2015, trailing two throws by Fernando Tatis Jr.

¡°He fielded it and it came out of his hand, and [bench coach] Donnie [Kelly] and I just looked at each other,¡± said manager Derek Shelton. ¡°Donnie said the same thing: ¡®I can¡¯t imagine anybody¡¯s ever thrown the ball across the infield that hard.¡¯ We were talking about [Manny] Machado. It was impressive. It came out hot.¡±

Added starting pitcher JT Brubaker, whose fastest fastball on Monday registered at 94.5 mph: ¡°I knew it was hard, I didn't know how hard it was. It's like, ¡®You had to do that to me? You had to throw one harder than I threw it off the mound?¡¯ In the moment, it was just like, ¡®Wow, that¡¯s a cannon.¡¯ It¡¯s a lively arm.¡±

For Cruz, this isn¡¯t the first time the Pirates' No. 3 prospect had pitchers joke that he needs to ease up.

¡°Over there in Triple-A, over in Indy, I would have a few pitchers bring that up to me like Osvaldo Bido and Cristofer Melendez,¡± Cruz said through team interpreter Mike Gonzalez. ¡°¡®Hey man, lower it down a little bit so we don¡¯t look as bad.¡¯¡±

First baseman Michael Chavis, who was on the receiving end of the throw, likened Cruz to pitchers who can light up the radar gun.

¡°The way it hangs in the air is a little bit different,¡± Chavis said. ¡°The same way [with] a guy that's pitching, a guy that throws really hard, it hangs up on it a little more, the ride or whatever you want to call it. It's pretty much the same thing where I thought it was going to go down, and it just hung.¡±

Chavis¡¯ glove remained firmly intact, but there have been other pieces of leather that haven¡¯t lived to tell the tale. Earlier this year, first base prospect Mason Martin said that Cruz broke not one, but two of his gloves. One instance happened during a game with Double-A Altoona. The other came during a practice that Martin will never forget.

¡°Everybody on the infield was off that day during warmups,¡± Martin said. ¡°We were like, ¡®We got to pick up the pace. We got to pick up the pace.¡¯ And sure enough, he started just letting them rip. Ball went straight through my glove and into the dugout and bounced off the dugout wall.

¡°We were all just like, ¡®Man, this kid¡¯s special.¡¯¡±

His arm wasn¡¯t the only tool that he had on display. On the basepaths, Cruz clocked in a sprint speed of 31.5 ft./sec (30 ft./sec is considered elite). In his second plate appearance of the evening, he ripped a bases-clearing double that registered an exit velocity of 112.9 mph. For most, that exit velocity might be their max. For Cruz, that figure probably doesn¡¯t crack his top-10.

When asked if he took more enjoyment in the hit or the throw, Cruz didn¡¯t hesitate.

¡°The hit was my favorite because I was able to bring in three runs,¡± Cruz said.

Barring the unforeseen, Cruz will likely have the runway to play out the rest of his season at the Major League level. He¡¯s already setting records through one Major League game into the year. In the coming months, he¡¯ll have plenty of opportunities to one-up himself -- with his bat, with his speed, and with his arm. And if he breaks Statcast in the process? So be it.

¡°Whatever¡¯s going to get broken is going to get broken," Cruz said with a smile.