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Obvious Pirates concern emerges after Paul Skenes' rough Opening Day start
Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz. Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images

Obvious Pirates concern emerges after Paul Skenes' rough Opening Day start

By Eric Smithling  |  Last updated Mar 26, 2026 3:40 PM ET

The Pittsburgh Pirates have a problem. And it has nothing to do with the mound.

On Thursday, Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes, the 2025 NL Cy Young Award winner, was rocked in an Opening Day start at Citi Field against the New York Mets.

Pittsburgh's ace didn't get out of the first inning, allowing five earned runs while recording just two outs, including one strikeout. Six of the nine batters Skenes faced reached base — four with hits and two on walks. He left the game with a 67.50 earned run average (ERA), a far cry from his MLB-best 1.97 ERA a season ago.

It was about as bad as start to a season as of a pitcher of Skenes' caliber could have, but his brief outing is hardly a cause for concern. He'll be just fine.

But the inning did reveal a major problem in the outfield for the Pirates.

Centerfielder Oneil Cruz already on hot seat after nightmarish first inning on Opening Day

Oneil Cruz had a first inning to forget, directly contributing to Skenes' elevated numbers with two awful defensive plays.

With one out and the bases loaded, Mets designated hitter Brett Baty hit a fly ball to centerfield, which Cruz badly misplayed. He began by moving in, then was forced the backtrack as the ball sailed over his head for a bases-clearing triple.

One batter later, Cruz lost second baseman Marcus Semien's high fly ball in the sun. It fell feet from him, allowing Baty to score.

Cruz's terrible, no good, very bad inning is not an outlier. He was arguably the worst defensive centerfielder in baseball last season.

Per Baseball Reference, among 179 centerfielders last season, only San Francisco Giants outfielder Jung Hoo Lee ranked worse in Baseball Info Solutions' defensive runs saved above average metric. Cruz also had recorded an MLB-high 11 errors for players at his position.

With such a major liability in the outfield, the Pirates have a serious problem.

Philadelphia 76ers center and part-time MLB analyst Joel Embiid is ready to move Cruz to designated hitter, but the team signed Marcell Ozuna this offseason for that role.

Third-year pro Billy Cook is the only other outfielder on the active roster, and he has 55 career at-bats, making him an uncertainty at the plate. But the Pirates may have to give him a chance. Cruz was a liability in centerfield last season, and that remained the case on Opening Day.

It took less than an inning for a major issue for Pittsburgh to arise. Finding a solution may take a lot longer.

Eric Smithling
Twitter/X Muck Rack

Eric Smithling is a writer based in New Orleans, LA, whose byline also appears on Athlon Sports. He has been with Yardbarker since September 2022, primarily covering the NFL and college football, but also the NBA, WNBA, men’s and women’s college basketball, NHL, tennis and golf. He holds a film studies degree from the University of New Orleans

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