Cruz (concussion) is slated to begin a minor-league rehab assignment with Double-A Altoona on Saturday, Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Cruz suffered a concussion in a collision with teammate Jack Suwinski on Aug. 12 versus Milwaukee. Cruz was subsequently placed on the 7-day concussion IL, where he's remained since. It's not clear how long Cruz will be on his rehab assignment, but enough time has passed that he's eligible to be activated and return to the big club at any point.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Improving in concussion recovery
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Pirates senior director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said Wednesday that Cruz (concussion) has ramped up his activity over the last 24-to-48 hours but isn't yet ready to return from the 7-day injured list, Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. "He's making progress and he's improving and he's feeling a lot better," Tomczyk said.
After landing on the IL last Wednesday, Cruz is now eligible to return at any point, but the 26-year-old looks like he'll still need a little more time to clear the concussion protocol. Jack Suwinski has received most of the starts in center field while Cruz has been on the shelf.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Leaves early with head injury
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Cruz was removed from Tuesday's game against the Brewers with a head injury.
Cruz collided with Jack Suwinski while both players attempted to make a diving catch in the fourth inning, and the former needed an extra moment to stand back up. He was later lifted for a pinch hitter in the sixth. The Pirates have yet to determine the severity of Cruz's injury.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Taking seat versus lefty
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Cruz is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Brewers.
The left-handed-hitting Cruz will take a seat for the Pirates' second straight matchup with a lefty (Jose Quintana), as he previously exited the lineup in last Wednesday's 4-2 loss to the Giants while southpaw Robbie Ray started for San Francisco. Alexander Canario will cover center field in place of Cruz, who is slashing just .110/.219/.190 over 114 plate appearances versus left-handed pitching this season.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Getting breather Wednesday
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Cruz is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game versus the Giants.
The left-handed-hitting Cruz has gone 0-for-17 over the last four games and the Giants are sending southpaw Robbie Ray to the hill, so the 26-year-old will get a chance to regroup Wednesday. Alexander Canario will patrol center field and bat seventh for the Pirates in the series finale.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Smacks grand slam in defeat
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Cruz went 2-for-6 with a double and a grand slam during Friday's 17-16 loss to the Rockies.
Cruz delivered the biggest swing in Pittsburgh's lengthy, nine-run first inning in which they sent 14 batters to the plate, smashing a 451-foot grand slam to center. The 26-year-old has showed he's quite dangerous when he can barrel up the ball, but his struggles to hit for average have been apparent as he's slashing just .220/.319/.448 on the season. He has 48 RBI on the season to go along with 18 home runs, but he's gone deep only three times since the start of July.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Hits decisive homer in win
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Cruz went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Saturday's 2-0 win over the Diamondbacks.
Cruz's 410-foot blast in the second inning proved to be the game's only offense. In eight games since the All-Star break, the 26-year-old has gone 8-for-29 with four extra-base hits, five RBI, three runs scored and five stolen bases. For the year, he's slashing .217/.318/.423 with 17 homers, 42 RBI, 52 runs scored and a major-league leading 34 steals across 393 plate appearances.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Busy on basepaths in win
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Cruz went 2-for-3 with a run scored, an RBI and two stolen bases in Wednesday's 6-1 win over the Tigers.
The 26-year-old is up to an MLB-leading 33 steals on the season, moving one ahead of Tampa Bay's Jose Caballero. Five of Cruz's stolen bases have come in the last nine games, a stretch in which he's batting .367 (11-for-30) with two doubles, a triple, three runs and three RBI.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Swipes 30th bag
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Cruz went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a stolen base Friday against the White Sox.
Cruz was out of the lineup for the final game before the All-Star break with a hip flexor injury but appeared as a pinch hitter in that game and then participated in the Home Run Derby. Accordingly, it wasn't a surprise that he was able to return to the lineup Friday, and he was one of the few bright spots in the lineup as he tallied two hits, drove in the Pirates' only run and swiped his 30th base of the season. While Cruz has been relatively unproductive across the last 30 days, he currently has a six-game hitting streak during which he has gone 8-for-19 with one home run, three RBI, two runs scored and two stolen bases.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Makes pinch-hit appearance
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Cruz (hip) provided an infield single in a pinch-hit appearance during Sunday's 2-1 win over the Twins.
The Pirates held Cruz out of the lineup for their final game before the All-Star break after he exited late in Saturday's 12-4 loss due to a hip flexor injury, but manager Don Kelly's decision to turn to the 26-year-old in the top of the ninth inning for a pinch-hit appearance suggests that his health isn't a major concern. Cruz remains in line to participate in Monday's Home Run Derby and should return to the Pittsburgh lineup when the team returns to action Friday against the White Sox.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Out Sunday with hip issue
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Cruz is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Twins after exiting Saturday's 12-4 loss in the top of the eighth inning due to a hip flexor injury, Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Interim manager Don Kelly said that the outfielder is still expected to participate in Monday's Home Run Derby. Jack Suwinski will draw the start Sunday in center field in place of Cruz, who should be ready to return to the Pittsburgh lineup following the All-Star break.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Taking seat versus southpaw
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Cruz is not in the lineup for Monday's game in Kansas City.
The left-handed-hitting Cruz has been an everyday player for the bulk of this season, but Monday marks the third straight time he's been absent from the lineup against a traditional left-handed starter (in this case, Noah Cameron). Alexander Canario will handle center field and bat sixth Monday in place of Cruz, who has posted a .444 OPS and a 39.3 percent strikeout rate versus southpaws this season.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Rips two homers
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Cruz went 2-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI in Sunday's win over the Mets.
Cruz has struggled heavily throughout June, but he finally broke out of a slump Sunday. His two-run shot in the first inning snapped his 14-game homerless drought before he added another two-run blast in the seventh. He's up to 15 home runs on the season, though just three of those have come during his last 25 games. Cruz is slashing .210/.321/.419 with 26 extra-base hits and 35 RBI through 74 games.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Swipes 27th base
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Cruz went 1-for-4 with a walk, a run scored and a stolen base Saturday against the Mets.
Cruz has been in and out of the Pirates' lineup during the team's recent series against the Brewers and the Mets due to a combination of poor performance and lack of effort. He re-entered the starting nine Saturday after sitting Friday, and he started a Pittsburgh rally in the second inning with a leadoff single before swiping his 27th base of the season and coming around to score. Cruz still struck out three times, raising his strikeout rate to 33.4 percent on the campaign.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Held out of lineup
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Cruz isn't part of the starting nine for Friday's game against the Mets.
Cruz has been struggling lately and was benched mid-game Tuesday for a lack of effort before being moved from leadoff to the fifth spot in the batting order. He also has just two hits in his last 31 at-bats and has struck out 12 times during that stretch. He'll leave center field work to Alexander Canario.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Moved down to fifth in order
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Cruz will start in center field and bat fifth in Wednesday's contest versus the Brewers.
Cruz was removed from Tuesday's 9-3 loss in the seventh inning due to what Pirates interim manager Don Kelly deemed a lack of effort in running out a double-play grounder. While Cruz is back in the lineup a day later, he has been demoted from the leadoff spot to the No. 5 spot, which is the lowest in the order he's hit this season. Cruz is slashing only .156/.258/.221 with a 34.8 percent strikeout rate in June.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Idle for first game of twin bill
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Cruz is out of the lineup for the first game of Thursday's doubleheader versus the Tigers.
Cruz had been scheduled to sit out Wednesday against Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, but that contest was ultimately postponed due to inclement weather. With Skubal now set to take the hill for the first game of Thursday's twin bill, Cruz will hit the bench, but he'll likely return to the starting nine for the second contest of the day.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Sitting against Skubal
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Cruz is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Tigers.
The Tigers are sending a tough lefty (Tarik Skubal) to the hill Wednesday, so Pirates manager Don Kelly likely determined it was an optimal time to give the left-handed-hitting Cruz just his second day off in the team's last 26 games. The Pirates called up Billy Cook from Triple-A Indianapolis on Wednesday, and he'll step into the lineup right away as Cruz's replacement in center field.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Wraps up solid homestand
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Cruz went 1-for-3 with a run scored, a walk and a stolen base Wednesday against the Marlins.
Cruz provided an offensive spark early in the game, singling to lead off the first inning before stealing second base. He then reached base on a walk with one out in the fifth inning and was driven in on a three-run home run by Andrew McCutchen. Cruz appeared in eight games during Pittsburgh's homestand and hit .241 with three RBI, four runs scored and four stolen bases. He now has swiped 24 bags on the season, good for second in the league.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Homers in win
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Cruz went 1-for-5 with a home run and three RBI in Wednesday's 10-1 win over the Diamondbacks.
Cruz drove in a run in the fifth inning and then put an exclamation point on things with a home run in the eighth that came off the bat at 109 mph. Over his past 10 games, the 26-year-old has hit safely seven times while collecting four home runs, eight RBI, nine runs scored and two steals. On the season, he's slashing .230/.352/.489 with 12 homers, 26 RBI, 32 runs scored and 18 stolen bases across 210 plate appearances.
