Cruz (back) is not in the Pirates' starting lineup against the Phillies on Friday.
Cruz will miss a fifth consecutive game while continuing to work through back soreness. Tommy Pham, Matt Gorski and Alexander Canario will start in the outfield for the Pirates in Friday's series opener against Phillies southpaw Ranger Suarez.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Out of Wednesday's lineup
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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.
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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.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Remains out of lineup
Rotowire
Cruz (back) remains out of the lineup for Monday's game versus the Mets.
Cruz will miss a second straight start after exiting Saturday' contest versus Atlanta with lower-back tightness. Alexander Canario will get another start in center field in place of Cruz, who is considered day-to-day.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Dealing with back injury
Rotowire
Cruz was removed from Saturday's 3-2 extra innings loss to Atlanta due to lower-back tightness, Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reports.
Per Stumpf, Cruz appeared to tweak his back in the ninth frame and was replaced by Liover Peguero. Cruz will undergo further testing to determine the severity of the injury, but he is in jeopardy of missing Sunday's series finale. Ji Hwan Bae would be in line to see more work in the outfield if Cruz is unable to play.
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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.
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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.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Reaches base five times
Rotowire
Cruz went 1-for-1 with an RBI single and four walks in Saturday's 2-1 loss to the Padres.
Cruz supplied the Pirates' lone run of the game on an RBI single to right field in the second inning, and he proceeded to draw a walk in each of his next four plate appearances. Cruz has reached base safely in each of his last 11 games, and over that span he has gone 12-for-41 (.293) with 11 walks, four stolen bases, nine runs scored, three home runs and seven RBI.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Swipes two more bags
Rotowire
Cruz went 0-for-3 with two walks, two runs scored and two stolen bases Friday against the Padres.
Cruz has been one of the few bright spots in the Pirates' lineup, and he continued his breakout Friday. He stole multiple bases in a game for the second time this season, bringing his total on the campaign to 14. He's also scored 15 runs in 17 games since taking over as Pittsburgh's leadoff hitter.
Cruz went 2-for-4 with a walk, a homer and two RBI during Saturday's 8-4 loss to the Dodgers.
The 26-year-old opened the game with a leadoff homer and followed up with an RBI single in the fifth inning. Cruz has collected multiple hits in four of the last five games and has also homered in three of the past four. He has a .267/.370/.567 slash line with eight long balls, 16 RBI and 17 runs through 25 games, and he's also tied for the MLB lead with 12 stolen bases.
Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Power surge continues Thursday
Rotowire
Cruz went 2-for-5 with a solo home run in Thursday's loss to the Angels.
Cruz is surging lately, having now socked five homers in his last eight games. During this span, the dynamic outfielder is batting .344 (11-for-32) with five long balls, eight RBI, seven runs scored and three stolen bases. The lefty-hitting Cruz tends to struggle versus southpaws, as evidenced by his .570 OPS in 25 at-bats against left-handers this year, but he leads the majors with 11 stolen bases so far.
Cruz is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Guardians, Danny Demilio of PittsburghBaseballNow.com reports.
Cruz is receiving Sunday off after a run of seven straight starts, during which he batted .269 (7-for-26) with three homers, three stolen bases, six RBI and six runs. Alexander Canario is getting a look in center field for the series finale versus Cleveland.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Swipes 10th bag of 2025
Rotowire
Cruz went 1-for-3 with one walk and a stolen base in Saturday's 3-0 loss to the Guardians.
The Pirates' offense struggled Saturday, but Cruz managed to get on base twice and registered his 10th steal of the season in the third inning. He leads the majors in steals and ranks 12th and 14th in the National League in walks (13) and home runs (five), respectively.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Powers offense in pitchers' duel
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Cruz went 1-for-3 with a walk, a solo homer and a stolen base during Thursday's 1-0 win over the Nationals.
After launching a decisive grand slam in Wednesday's victory, Cruz provided all the offense in Thursday's contest with a 442-foot blast to right-center field in the opening frame. The 26-year-old struck out twice and has a .228 batting average and 29.6 percent strikeout rate through 17 games this year, but he's still provided plenty of production with four homers and a league-leading nine steals.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Blasts grand slam vs. Washington
Rotowire
Cruz went 2-for-4 with a grand slam in Wednesday's 6-1 win over the Nationals.
Cruz put the Pirates up for good in the sixth inning, when he took the first pitch he saw from Eduardo Salazar deep to right field for a 385-foot grand slam. It was the third home run of the season for Cruz and his first since April 2 against the Rays. The 26-year-old outfielder has begun the season slashing .222/.343/.426 with three home runs and nine RBI in 67 plate appearances, and he leads the majors with eight stolen bases.
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