BRADENTON, Fla. -- Coming off of missing almost all of 2023 after fracturing his left fibula, there were some questions coming into spring about whether Oneil Cruz would be back at full strength.

During the Pirates' 9-7 loss to the Phillies on Sunday, he showed exactly what he could do at full strength.

His first swing of the day was a 412-foot missile off a Max Castillo fastball, which left the bat at 116.6 mph.

In the Statcast era (since 2015), the only Pirate who has hit a harder homer was, of course, Cruz (117.5 mph on Aug. 29, 2022).

The next inning, Cruz was caught a bit off balance against a Castillo changeup. It didn’t matter, and he blasted that one 434 feet, leaving the bat at 114.4 mph.

In the Statcast era, there have only been five times when a player hit multiple homers at least 114 mph in one game. They are, in order: Matt Davidson (March 29, 2018), Giancarlo Stanton (Oct. 6, 2020), Nelson Cruz (April 5, 2021), Stanton (April 23, 2021) and Aaron Judge (Sept. 30, 2021).

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Both of Cruz's homers would have been candidates to land in the Allegheny River if he hit them at PNC Park. It's safe to assume that the Pirates' shortstop will have a couple river blasts moving forward.

"I’m not trying to hit it to the river, but hey, I put my good swing on it," Cruz said, via interpreter and coach Stephen Morales. "If they land there, they land there."

The Pirates are counting on Cruz being a major contributor this year. So far this spring, he’s shown that he could be that type of player.