Pirates' Oneil Cruz Makes Blunder in Center Field

The Pirates went on and lost that game 6-2, making it six defeats in the past eight games from them, as they return from a road trip where they dropped three of four games to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field and two of three games vs. the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.

Cruz has struggled this month from the plate, slashing .164/.282/.246 for an OPS of .528, with 10 hits in 61 at-bats, two doubles, one home run, four RBIs, nine walks to 26 strikeouts and seven stolen bases.

He has had some strong moments this season, including 12 home runs, plus for leadoff homers early on in late April. He also has 25 stolen bases, still second best in the MLB, only three off of Tampa Bay Rays third baseman José Caballero, who has 28.

Cruz had an incredible weekend against the Milwaukee Brewers at PNC Park, May 23-25.

He previously hit the hardest home run of his career off of Brewers starting right-handed pitcher Freddy Peralta on May 23, to put the Pirates up 1-0 in the bottom of the third inning.

Cruz came through again in the bottom of the ninth inning, as he hit another solo home run, which tied the game up at 4-4 and allowed the Pirates to win 6-5 in extra innings.

He then hit an RBI-triple in the bottom of the seventh inning on May 24, providing the go-ahead run in the 2-1 victory for the Pirates.

Cruz then crushed the hardest ball in the statcast era (since 2015) in the following game, 122.9 mph for a solo home run in the 6-5 defeat.

This marks the first season for Cruz in center field, after coming up and playing almost all of the first three seasons with the Pirates at shortstop.

He made the change in late August 2024 and started 62 of 63 games in center field for the Pirates this season, with 153 putouts in 163 total chances, two assists, seven errors and one double play,