Pirates counting on Cruz to take leap forward in '26: 'He has another level'

PITTSBURGH -- Expectations were high for Oneil Cruz in 2025. Positioned at the heart of the lineup, there were hopes he could take another step after a 20-20 campaign in 2024, especially since he was another year removed from his 2023 ankle injury.

Instead, he was one of the faces of the worst offense of last season. He was able to record another 20-20 campaign and took a step forward defensively in center field, but mostly struggled offensively, seeing his OPS drop nearly 100 points to .676.

The problems weren’t exactly hard to identify. He whiffed far too often, especially against breaking pitches. He took more called strikes and shared during the season that he didn’t know if he always had the right aggressive approach. His output was wildly inconsistent. Nobody in baseball generates more bat speed than Cruz, but he had difficulty getting the bat out in front, leading to a deeper contact point and not pulling his fly balls enough, which is where his power usually lies.

If you talk strictly tools, Cruz is in the discussion for the most talented position player in baseball. That raw talent hasn’t resulted in him becoming a great player yet, though. There’s no question he has the potential to be an All-Star or the heart of a lineup, and the Pirates need him to become one.

“[The] Major Leagues is tough as you start to go through those changes and teams adjust to you, being able to make the adjustment back,” manager Don Kelly said at the Winter Meetings in Orlando, Fla. “And we're seeing Oneil go through that right now. He's having a great offseason. Looking forward to him having a really good year next year.”

Cruz has split his offseason in the Dominican Republic and the United States this winter, working with Pirates representatives in both countries, according to Kelly. Near the end of the season, general manager Ben Cherington shared that the team was working toward that offseason plan, a lot of which focused around swing decisions and approach.

It’s clear there’s room to grow in those areas, especially when you consider he ranked in the bottom 3% of hitters in terms of whiff rate (34%) and bottom 2% in terms of strikeout rate (32%). There is always going to be some swing-and-miss in his game, but if he is going to be a more consistent offensive performer, he needs to make more consistent contact.

“On the one hand, I don’t think there’s any kind of magic to it,” Cherington said at the Winter Meetings. “It’s continuing to try and find the right relationships around him that can help him organize his day in the best possible way. When he does that, he can be the best player on the field. We’ve seen that for individual games. We’ve seen it for certain stretches of time over the last couple seasons. But we haven’t seen it for a six-month season consistently. He knows that. He knows he has another level in him.”

The Pirates are expecting to add several hitters to their roster this winter (Brandon Lowe was acquired in a trade with the Rays and left-handed hitter Ryan O'Hearn agreed to a deal, per a source), but the biggest improvement this lineup could make is arguably having Cruz take a massive leap toward reaching his potential. He is going to be their Opening Day center fielder, but with the acquisition of outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia, the No. 85 prospect in baseball who is essentially Major League ready, the Pirates finally have another potential impact outfielder who could play any of the three spots. This is going to be a pivotal year for Cruz not just because his team needs him, but because there is an alternative in-house if he struggles again.

Cruz has the ability to take over games and will show it periodically, but the Pirates need him to be a more consistent producer over the course of six months.

“Every player is different,” Cherington said. “Every player gets to that level of consistency a different way. I think I’ll continue to be stubborn on the belief that there is another level for him and believe that Oneil is a good person who does care and wants to be good. It’s just gonna look a little bit different than it does for other guys. Our job is to find a way to unlock that.”