The Pirates need Oneil Cruz back, but they don’t need to force the issue just because the lineup has gone cold.
Cruz kept his rehab assignment going Tuesday with Double-A Altoona, where he played eight innings in center field and finished 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts. There was also a moment in the outfield when he appeared to lose a fly ball in the lights, and it dropped for a single.
On its own, none of that is alarming. Rehab games are built for this exact kind of tune-up, and it would be unrealistic to expect a player who has missed more than nine weeks with fractures in his left hand to look fully sharp right away.
But through three games between Triple-A Indianapolis and Altoona, Cruz still hasn’t given the Pirates much reason to speed things up. He’s 0-for-8 with five strikeouts and three walks.
No hits yet. More swing-and-miss than contact.
And now at least one defensive miscue in center field, even if losing a ball in the sky can happen to anybody.
That’s where the real question sits now: not whether the hand has healed, but whether Cruz is actually ready to help a team whose offense has vanished.
Pittsburgh has dropped 14 of its last 19 games while averaging just 3.11 runs over that stretch. Entering Wednesday, the Pirates were six games out of the final National League wild card spot.
That kind of slide makes Cruz look like a possible lifeline. The problem is that the version of Cruz currently working back through the minors doesn’t look like one just yet.
There’s still time for that to change. He hasn’t seen major-league pitching in more than two months, so getting back in rhythm, tracking velocity and rebuilding comfort at the plate are all part of the process. The three walks at least suggest his strike-zone recognition hasn’t disappeared.
Even so, the Pirates can’t activate Cruz simply because they need offense in the worst way. They need prime Oneil Cruz, not just someone filling his name in center field.
If he needs another rehab game or two to get there, Pittsburgh should let him have them. Bringing him back early because the big-league lineup is desperate won’t fix anything if he’s still striking out at this pace and still searching for his defensive feel.
The Pirates need a spark. So far, Cruz’s rehab assignment hasn’t shown he’s ready to be it.
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