CHICAGO -- As Oneil Cruz held court at his locker early Saturday evening, Marcell Ozuna passed by the scrum and tried to convince Cruz to use his English. Later, after the crowd dispersed, Joey Bart complimented Cruz on his recent at-bats, especially against left-handed pitchers.
Although the Pirates won a nailbiter, outlasting the Cubs, 4-3, in 11 innings to secure a rare series victory at Wrigley Field, arguably the most important player on Pittsburgh’s roster reaching Cruz control has been hard to ignore.
After a forgettable opening series, Cruz has looked like a 6-foot-7 man on a mission, in this one collecting four hits, stealing three bases and reaching base a fifth time when he was intentionally walked.
By a left-handed pitcher, no less.
With his latest performance, Cruz increased his average this season to .345, his OPS to 1.018. Seems the calls for a roster move involving Cruz after the Mets series may have been just a tad premature.
“He’s playing great baseball,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said.
No argument here. As of this writing, Cruz was fourth in MLB in total bases with 34. Meanwhile, he looks like a completely different hitter when facing southpaws, going 8-for-16 against them.
That’s three fewer hits than he had all of last season.
Hitting coach Matt Hague praised Cruz for being more efficient with his movements and discovering a more repeatable setup. That has allowed Cruz to use the opposite field, to let the ball travel longer and not disrupt timing.
But there’s also a less baseball-specific reason for what Cruz has done this season: He’s human.
“He was determined,” Hague said. “He took it personally last year. It’s good to see him respond the way he did.”
On Saturday, Cruz was a steady drumbeat atop the Pirates’ lineup, singling and stealing second in the first, third and fourth innings. In the sixth, he cut out the middle step simply cracked a double.
In the process, Cruz produced the Pirates’ first four-hit, three-steal game since Matt Lawton on July 26, 2005 in Miami.
Meanwhile, Cruz also extended his hitting streak to 10 games, one shy of his career high and the longest active one in MLB.
“It looks like he’s going out there and having fun, allowing his talent to play out,” Kelly said.
Cruz has even been focused on a few personal goals he set for himself this offseason.
So personal, in fact, that he refuses to share them with family members.
Given the way he’s playing, here’s guessing they’re not small.
“It’s more being mentally focused,” Cruz said, with major league coach Stephen Morales translating. “I definitely know what I want this year.”
As for a few other observations:
1. Nice of the Pirates to remind their dads to get their hearts checked. This one was a rollercoaster. They built a 3-0 lead, lost it in the ninth, failed to score in the 10th, then nearly gave it away in the 11th.
2. Yohan Ramírez was riding in the front car, working the final two innings to get the win. In the 10th, he got Dansby Swanson to bounce out to second, leaving the bases loaded.
In the 11th, Ramírez committed a throwing error before Kelly had him intentionally walk Ian Happ, again loading the bases. Happ has crushed the Pirates in the past, but Ramírez wasn’t exactly pinpoint with his control. It was a calculated risk by Kelly that nearly backfired.
Fortunately, Ramírez got Seiya Suzuki to pop out to first to end it.
“We were confident he could bounce back and win the game,” Cruz said of Ramírez.
3. Nick Yorke has done a nice job taking advantage of the opportunity to play third. Had three hits Saturday, including a double. He’s now hitting .379 on the season with a .969 OPS.
When it comes to third base, if you hit, you should play.
“I want to make the most of my opportunity,” Yorke said. “Not chase pitches. Swing at the right ones and just put up as many quality at-bats as I can."
4. We don’t talk enough about Braxton Ashcraft, who delivered five innings of one-run ball, walking one and striking out nine. He was dominant once again. His ERA is down to 2.12.
Kelly could’ve stuck with Ashcraft longer, but he turned things over to Mason Montgomery in the sixth. This time, the move worked out as intended.
Opponents are hitting .200 against Ashcraft, who has a 1.00 and continues to command his breaking stuff and throw strikes. It’s an excellent, effective combination.
“Winning those two strike counts has been a real point of emphasis from spring on and did a good job of that [Saturday],” Ashcraft said.
5. Speaking of that, Ashcraft definitely knows how to miss bats. He had 16 whiffs Saturday. Furthermore, he’s allowed just one home run through his first 11 MLB starts. In that timeframe, Ashcraft has the Pirates’ lowest rate of home runs allowed (0.31 per nine innings) since Bob Veale in 1962 (0.15).
6. How rare is this weekend? The Pirates won a series in Chicago for just the fourth time in their past 18 tries. Furthermore, they’ve gone just 18-38 in those games.
With Saturday’s win, the Pirates moved to four games over .500 for the first time since April 16, 2024. They’re also in first place in the NL Central for the first time since that date.
7. Pitching coach Bill Murphy is fascinating to watch. He made four mound visits, all in the middle of an at-bat. Can’t say I’ve ever seen that.
I’ve also never seen a pitching coach take 19 seconds to walk from the mound back to the dugout. Murphy did that. I timed him. And I’ve also never seen a pitching coach as fired up and animated as Murphy was after the Pirates won this one.
Smart dude. Pitchers love him, too.
8. The Pirates are enjoying a terrific start — and it hasn’t come against cupcakes. They’ve played three 2025 playoff teams, plus two more (Mets and Orioles) that are projected to win an average of 85 games. The rest of the NL Central combined has played four 2025 playoff teams.
9. Speaking of that, FanGraphs before Saturday gave the Pirates a 36.6% chance of winning the division, best of anyone. The Brewers were second at 31.1%. Hard to imagine that dropped after this win.
The Pirates are showing they can win a number of ways. They also want more.
“I don't think anyone's satisfied with this win,” Yorke said. “We're gonna come in, trying to sweep tomorrow."
Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH.