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.
... See More... See Less
Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Out Sunday with hip issue
Rotowire
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.
... See More... See Less
Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Smacks 16th homer
Rotowire
Cruz went 1-for-4 with a solo home run Tuesday against the Royals.
Cruz continued his all-or-nothing approach at the plate Tuesday by blasting his 16th home run of the season in the fourth inning to tie the game at 1-1. He has four long balls and 10 stolen bases across his last 30 starts, but he's hit just .161 with a .552 OPS and a 33.6 percent strikeout rate in that same span.
... See More... See Less
Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Taking seat versus southpaw
Rotowire
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.
... See More... See Less
Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Rips two homers
Rotowire
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.
... See More... See Less
Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Swipes 27th base
Rotowire
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.
... See More... See Less
Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Held out of lineup
Rotowire
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.
... See More... See Less
Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Moved down to fifth in order
Rotowire
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.
... See More... See Less
Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Idle for first game of twin bill
Rotowire
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.
... See More... See Less
Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Sitting against Skubal
Rotowire
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.
... See More... See Less
Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Wraps up solid homestand
Rotowire
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.
... See More... See Less
Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Homers in win
Rotowire
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.
... See More... See Less
Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Power binge continues
Rotowire
Cruz went 1-for-4 with a solo home run and a walk Sunday against the Brewers.
Cruz led off the third inning with his 11th homer of the season and third in a four-game set against Milwaukee. Sunday's shot was particularly impressive, as it was the hardest hit ball in the Statcast era at 122.9 mph. Cruz is hitting only .210 across 17 games in May, though he has 12 runs scored, seven RBI and six stolen bases in that span.
... See More... See Less
Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Slugs two homers
Rotowire
Cruz went 2-for-5 with two solo home runs during Friday's 6-5 win over the Brewers.
Cruz opened the scoring Friday in the third inning with a 442-foot blast into center field that left his bat at 118 mph. He then came up clutch with the Buccos down a run in the ninth by hitting another solo shot 427 feet into right-center field. The 26-year-old's power display elevated his OPS from .783 to .822, and he now has four hits in his last three games after going 0-for-15 across his prior five contests.
... See More... See Less
Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Swipes two bags
Rotowire
Cruz went 0-for-2 with two walks, a run scored and two stolen bases Tuesday against the Reds.
Cruz was out of the lineup for five straight games due to a back injury last week, and he has yet to record a hit in 11 at-bats since returning. Tuesday also marked the first time he reached base in that span. While his performance has been poor lately, his willingness to run suggests he's starting to feel healthier.
... See More... See Less
Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Idle for series opener
Rotowire
Cruz is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Reds.
Cruz was recently held out of the lineup for four straight games due to back soreness, but he rejoined the starting nine for the final two contests of the weekend series versus the Phillies, going 0-for-8 with seven strikeouts. With lefty Nick Lodolo on the bump for Cincinnati, the lefty-hitting Cruz was unlikely to get back on track Monday, so he'll get a day off. Alexander Canario will spell Cruz in center field, while third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes settles in as the Pirates' leadoff hitter.
... See More... See Less
Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Out of Wednesday's lineup
Rotowire
Cruz (back) is not in the Pirates' starting lineup against the Mets on Wednesday.
Cruz is out of the lineup for a fourth consecutive game due to back soreness that flared up during Saturday's extra-innings loss to Atlanta. The Pirates have a day off Thursday, so Cruz will have additional time to rest ahead of Friday's series opener against the Phillies. Alexander Canario, Ji Hwan Bae and Bryan Reynolds will man the outfield for Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
... See More... See Less
Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Sitting again Tuesday
Rotowire
Cruz (back) isn't in the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Mets.
Tuesday will mark the third consecutive absence for Cruz due to his sore back. The Pirates haven't announced any plans to move him to the injured list, though that could change if the 26-year-old doesn't return within the next few days. Ji Hwan Bae will start in center field Tuesday and bat eighth.
... See More... See Less
Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Viewed as day-to-day
Rotowire
Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said prior to Sunday's game against Atlanta that Cruz is considered day-to-day due to lower back tightness, Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. "We don't have a full update yet, because he was going to go through some stuff and see how he felt," Cherington said of Cruz. "He felt a little tightness in that low back as he pulled up on the bases, as people saw [in Saturday's 3-2 loss]."
Cruz appeared to tweak his back after reaching base during his final plate appearance in the ninth inning, but he played an inning in the field before he was lifted from Saturday's game in the top of the 11th inning. The Pirates don't seem overly concerned about Cruz's back issue forcing him to the injured list, as the team didn't call up an extra infielder from the minors ahead of Sunday's game. With a quick turnaround for Sunday's contest and a tough lefty (Chris Sale) on the mound for Atlanta, the Pirates may have viewed the series finale as an opportune time to give the lefty-hitting Cruz his first day off since April 20.
... See More... See Less
Pirates' Oneil Cruz: On bench Sunday
Rotowire
Cruz (back) is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against Atlanta.
Cruz exited late in Saturday's 3-2 loss after appearing to tweak his back, which will keep him out of the starting nine for at least one game. Alexander Canario will shift to center field while Tommy Pham starts in left with Cruz sitting out.
