Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Homer, steal in extra-innings loss
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Cruz went 1-for-5 with a solo home run, a walk, a stolen base and two total runs scored in Sunday's 7-6 extra-innings loss to the Giants.
Cruz went 5-for-14 with two walks during this three-game series in San Francisco. The homer was his first since April 28, ending his season-worst 10-game stretch without a long ball. The outfielder is batting .255 with a .793 OPS, 10 homers, 15 steals, 29 RBI and 31 runs scored over 39 contests this season, providing well-rounded production in the counting stats.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Three hits, steal in win
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Cruz went 3-for-6 with a stolen base and three runs scored in Saturday's 13-3 win over the Giants.
Cruz was in a bit of a slump prior to Saturday, going 1-for-14 with two walks and four strikeouts over his previous four games. He broke out with a strong game atop the order, which included his third steal in the last four games. Cruz is now hitting .256 with a .783 OPS, nine home runs, 28 RBI, 29 runs scored, 14 steals and six doubles across 38 contests. He's made some gains in power without sacrificing speed on the basepaths, but Cruz's 33.7 percent strikeout rate remains alarmingly high, especially for a leadoff hitter.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Scores twice in big win
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Cruz went 2-for-6 with two runs scored and an RBI on Saturday against the Reds.
Nearly every hitter in the Pirates' lineup delivered counting stats in a 17-7 win, and Cruz contributed to significant rallies in the first and fourth innings. He's had a mediocre homestand across six games, going 6-for-24 with three RBI and six runs scored. Cruz has had a very impressive start to the season with nine home runs and 27 RBI already, though his 35.8 percent strikeout rate remains a significant red flag in his skills profile.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Homers in return
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Cruz went 2-for-5 with a solo home run during the Pirates' 11-7 loss to the Cardinals on Tuesday.
Cruz missed Monday's series opener due to an illness but was back in the lineup for Tuesday's contest, when he put the Pirates on the board with a solo homer off Kyle Leahy in the sixth inning. Cruz is in the midst of a breakout season and sits in the top five in the National League in home runs (nine), RBI (25) and stolen bases (10), though his 45 strikeouts are second-most in the NL behind James Wood (46).
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Back in action Tuesday
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Cruz (illness) is starting in center field and batting leadoff Tuesday against the Cardinals.
The 27-year-old was scratched from the lineup for Monday's series opener due to an illness but is good to go for Tuesday's contest. Cruz has gone 0-for-10 with five strikeouts in his past two games but overall has been productive during the first month of the campaign with eight home runs, 10 steals, 24 RBI, 19 runs and an .838 OPS in 27 games.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Scratched due to illness
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Cruz was scratched from the Pirates' starting lineup against the Cardinals on Monday due to an illness.
Cruz evidently fell ill prior to Monday's game, which prompted the Pirates to replace him with Jake Mangum in center field and shift Spencer Horwitz to the leadoff spot in the batting order. Cruz will continue to receive treatment in the hopes of being cleared to return for Tuesday's contest against St. Louis.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Receiving Sunday off
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Cruz is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Brewers.
It's the first day off for Cruz since the second contest of the season, and it comes after he went 0-for-10 with five strikeouts and an RBI across the first two games of the series in Milwaukee. Billy Cook is picking up a start in center field Sunday.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Collects 10th steal
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Cruz went 1-for-4 with a steal and a run scored during the Pirates' 5-1 loss to the Rangers on Tuesday.
Cruz showed off his speed early by stealing second base in the first inning, and after moving to third on a Danny Jansen throwing error, Cruz was brought home by an Ryan O'Hearn single to center field. Cruz is up to 10 steals (on 11 attempts) this season, tied with Nasim Nunez for second most in the majors behind Jose Ramirez (11). Cruz is off to a strong start to the 2026 season with a .897 OPS, six home runs and 19 RBI over 103 plate appearances.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Homer, stolen base in loss
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Cruz went 1-for-4 with a solo home run, one walk and a stolen base in Sunday's 7-6 loss to the Cubs.
With the wind whipping out to center at Wrigley Field on Sunday, Cruz led off the game with a solo blast. He struck out in each of his next three trips to the plate before walking and stealing his sixth base of the season in the ninth inning. It's been an all-or-nothing start to the 2026 campaign for Cruz, who is slashing .339/.400/.644 with five homers, 13 RBI, 11 runs scored, six steals and a 5:20 BB:K across 65 plate appearances.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Runs wild against Cubbies
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Cruz went 4-for-5 with a walk, a double, a run scored and three stolen bases in Saturday's 4-3 extra-innings win over the Cubs.
All three steals came against the battery of Edward Cabrera and Miguel Amaya, and the Pirates went 4-for-4 on the basepaths against that duo in the contest. Cruz also extended his hitting streak to 10 games with the huge performance from the leadoff spot, and through 60 plate appearances to begin the season he's slashing .345/.400/.618 with four homers, five stolen bases, 10 runs and 12 RBI.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Tallies fourth homer
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Cruz went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run, three RBI and two runs scored Sunday against the Orioles.
Cruz delivered his third three-RBI performance in his last five games. He kicked off the effort with an infield single in the second inning before popping a two-run home run four frames later. More impressive was that this was Cruz's third long ball and sixth hit against a lefty this season, which comes directly after logging only 11 knocks across 125 plate appearances against southpaws in 2025.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Taking seat Saturday
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Cruz isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Mets.
A couple of defensive miscues from Cruz allowed the Mets to take an early 5-2 lead in the first inning of Thursday's contest, so the Pirates will keep the 27-year-old on the bench to begin Saturday's game while Jake Mangum patrols center field.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Back in lineup
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Cruz (ankle) will start in center field and bat leadoff against Atlanta on Saturday.
Cruz missed two games after making an early exit Wednesday with ankle discomfort, but he'll return in time to make at least one more start before the end of the season. The 26-year-old hasn't exactly been ending 2025 on a positive note, however, slashing .179/.258/.286 across 62 plate appearances since the start of September.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Not in Thursday's lineup
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Cruz (ankle) is not in the lineup for Thursday's game in Cincinnati.
Cruz departed Wednesday's game with left ankle discomfort, though he probably wasn't going to start Thursday, regardless, with southpaw Nick Lodolo on the bump for the Reds. He's considered day-to-day for the time being. Alexander Canario is in center field and batting seventh for the Pirates in Thursday's series finale.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Idle Wednesday
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Cruz is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Cubs.
Cruz has now exited the starting nine in four of the Pirates' last seven games, though three of his absences have come with left-handed pitchers on the bump for the opposition. He'll cede center field to Alexander Canario on Wednesday as the Cubs send southpaw Matthew Boyd to the bump for the series finale.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Sitting again versus lefty
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Cruz is not in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Dodgers.
Southpaw Blake Snell is on the bump for the Dodgers, marking the fifth straight game the left-handed-hitting Cruz has been out of the lineup versus a lefty (when healthy). The 26-year-old is slashing a woeful .106/.212/.183 with a 36.4 percent strikeout rate against left-handed pitching this season, so he now appears to find himself in a platoon. Alexander Canario will be in center field and bat seventh for the Pirates on Thursday.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Receiving break Tuesday
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Cruz is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Dodgers.
Cruz has gone 3-for-19 with four walks and a homer in six games since coming off the injured list last week, and he'll take a seat for Tuesday's series opener versus Los Angeles. Alexander Canario will instead start in center field and bat sixth versus Dodgers lefty Clayton Kershaw.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Swipes 35th base
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Cruz went 0-for-2 with a walk and a stolen base Thursday against the Cardinals.
Cruz started his third straight game since being activated from the injured list. He has yet to record a hit in nine at-bats, though he has reached base via walk in all three contests. Cruz also swiped his 35th bag Thursday, which is the fourth-highest mark in the league.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Will not be activated Monday
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Pirates interim manager Don Kelly said that Cruz (concussion) will not be activated from the 7-day injured list prior to Monday's game in St. Louis, Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Cruz played rehab games with Double-A Altoona on Saturday and Sunday and came out of it without any setbacks. Kelly did not offer a target date for Cruz's activation, saying only that the team is taking it day by day. The Pirates might have just wanted to give Cruz a day to rest after he played back-to-back rehab games and then traveled to meet the team in St. Louis. Cruz has been sidelined since mid-August.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Beginning rehab assignment
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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.He was subsequently placed on the 7-day injured list, but Cruz is apparently no longer dealing with concussion symptoms now that he's been cleared for game action in the minors. It's not clear how long Cruz's rehab assignment will last, but enough time has passed that he's eligible to be activated by the big club at any point.
