Oneil Cruz's strong start is an encouraging sign for Pirates

There are a lot of reasons for optimism regarding the 2026 Pittsburgh Pirates, and they have all been on display through the team's first nine games. With their 8-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday, the Pirates not only completed the weekend sweep, but they also extended their winning streak to five games, have won six out of their past seven, and are 6-3 going into Monday's series opening against the San Diego Padres.

Offseason additions Brandon Lowe and Ryan O'Hearn have been everything they needed to improve their lineup.

The starting rotation and pitching staff, which features some of the best young arms in baseball, including reigning Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes, have been mostly excellent, while they are the only rotation in baseball that has yet to allow a home run this season. 

They also recently called up prized prospect Konnor Griffin, the 19-year-old shortstop who has been the consensus No. 1 prospect in all of baseball.

All of it is encouraging for a team that has real expectations around it for the first time in more than a decade.

As encouraging as those developments are, there is another big one that might be the team's biggest game-changer this season.

It is the play of centerfielder Oneil Cruz

Oneil Cruz strong start is great sign for Pirates

The Pirates have been waiting for Cruz to put all of his tools together into one complete package for a couple of years now, but he has struggled to find consistency, struggled to find a permanent position in the field and badly regressed at the plate during the 2025 season. Even though the ability, talent, power and speed are all still there, it has been easy to write off the possibility of him ever becoming a star. 

But through the first nine games of the season, Cruz is showing some very encouraging signs that maybe this could be his year. 

He hit his fourth home run of the season in Sunday's win, and along with his RBI single earlier in the game, it raised his OPS for the season to an impressive 1.026. 

It is not just the power and the overall numbers that have stood out so far.

It is how he is achieving the numbers.

He has already hit two home runs off left-handed pitchers this season. Cruz has struggled mightily against left-handed pitching in his career, so much so that he mostly became a platoon player for the Pirates in 2025. A year ago, he hit just .102 against left-handed pitching (11-for-108)  with only a single home run. In nine games this season, he is already 6-for-8 against lefties with the aforementioned two home runs. 

He has also shown a knack for using the entire field and already has a couple of RBI singles to left field.  

Those are the kinds of developments that can open up an entirely new level of production for Cruz. 

As good as the Pirates' pitching staff can be, and for as good as the new additions have been, they are still lacking an impact bat in their lineup and a superstar-level position player.

Griffin could be that play in time. Maybe even by the end of next season. Cruz could also make that sort of impact. If one or both can turn their talent and ability into production, the Pirates might be more than just a competitive team or playoff team this season.