Pirates’ Oneil Cruz Hasn’t Skipped a Beat Since Injury

If the Pittsburgh Pirates had a healthy Oneil Cruz for the entirety of the 2026 season, there’s a very good chance that they’d be in a much different position in terms of the National League playoff race.

Before Cruz landed on the injured list with a hand injury, he owned a .832 OPS and was the main threat in Pittsburgh’s new-look lineup.

There’s some good news and bad news with Cruz since he came off the injured list a few weeks ago.

The good news is Cruz hasn’t missed a beat at the plate.

He’s appeared in 17 games for the Pirates over this stretch and owns a .267/.380/.467 slash line, including three home runs, 14 RBI, and a 130 wRC+.

Yes, the strikeout rate has been fairly high at 36 percent, but that’s always been an issue with Cruz’s game, and there wasn’t any expectation that this would change after coming off the injured list.

Considering where Pittsburgh’s offense had been coming out of the All-Star break, having Cruz’s bat back in the lineup has been a blessing for this team.

“I feel like he's been having really good at-bats,” said manager Don Kelly over the weekend.

“Been aggressive at times early in the counts and then work some counts and found a way to put the ball in play with two strikes, specifically with some runners in scoring position… he's continued to get better as far as plate discipline goes and like to see him getting his swing off."

It’s also been encouraging to see some of the impressive defensive plays Cruz has made in the outfield since his return, including being part of a relay that saved the game for the Pirates against the Los Angeles Angels.

For one, it shows Cruz is finally making progress on defense, and that his hand looks healthy.

The bad news is that Cruz’s return and late-season production may be a little too late for the Pirates.

Pittsburgh desperately needed another threat in the lineup at the beginning of August, which is when they really started to fall out of the postseason race. Now, even with Cruz hitting the way he is, the Pirates are on the outside looking in at the playoffs and will need a miracle to be playing October baseball.

From what we’ve seen from Cruz since the injury, it’s clear that he’s healthy, but it looks like it’s too late for that to help the Pirates break their postseason drought.