Oneil Cruz keeps finding his way into rare company, even in a season that’s had more bumps than he probably would’ve wanted.
The Pirates shortstop/outfielder reached the 20-20 mark again on Sept. 20, launching a solo homer in the fourth inning against the Kansas City Royals at PNC Park to tie the game at 1-1 in a 4-3 win in the series finale. That gave him 20 home runs and 28 stolen bases in 2026, his third straight season finishing with at least 20 homers and 20 steals.
That kind of run puts Cruz in a very small Pirates group. He became just the third player in franchise history to post three consecutive 20-20 seasons, joining Barry Bonds, who did it from 1990-92, and Andrew McCutchen, who matched the feat from 2011-13.
What makes it stand out even more is how much time Cruz missed. He fractured his left hand sliding into home plate against the Atlanta Braves on June 6, landed on the injured list June 10 and didn’t get back into the Pirates’ lineup until Aug.
- In all, he missed 61 games.
Since returning, though, he’s looked like a different hitter. In 29 games back, Cruz has hit .318/.407/.533 with a .940 OPS, piling up 34 hits in 107 at-bats, along with three doubles, a triple, six homers, 23 RBI and seven steals in 10 attempts.
He wasted no time making an impact after the layoff. In his first game back, he drove a two-run homer in a 4-1 win over the Detroit Tigers on Aug. 18 at PNC Park.
A week later, he came through again, taking San Diego Padres All-Star closer Mason Miller deep for a go-ahead solo shot in a 1-0 win at Petco Park on Aug. 25.
The raw power is still the headline tool, and Cruz put that on full display in the Pirates’ 2-0 win over the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field on Sept. 10, when his solo homer came off an MLB-best 117.4 mph exit velocity.
Cruz said the Pirates’ coaching staff and his teammates helped carry him through the rough stretch, and he acknowledged that his hand still isn’t all the way back.
"It hasn't felt 100% the whole time, but I've decided it was time to play and come back, and I just put my mind into it," Cruz said through interpreter Stephen Morales. "I told myself that if I decide to come back, I'm just gonna do my best every day."
Even with the missed time, the season still carried real weight. Cruz reached the 20-20 club in only 93 games, compared with 132 games in 2025. At one point, he was the first MLB player to get to the 10-10 club and was on pace for 34 home runs and 53 stolen bases before the injury interrupted everything.
Had he stayed on that track, he would have been right in the thick of the National League MVP conversation. He would have ranked 10th in home runs and first in stolen bases.
The growth has shown up in the numbers, too. Cruz hit .264/.350/.472 with an .822 OPS in the first half, then improved on that compared with last year’s .200/.298/.378 line and .676 OPS in 2025. His biggest jump came against left-handed pitching, where he batted .323/.373/.476 for an .849 OPS in 2026 after hitting just .102 against southpaws in 2025.
Pirates manager Don Kelly pointed to that progress and to the way Cruz handled the injury grind.
"He's had an unbelievable year, and I think we've talked about it in a lot of different ways that it stood out," Kelly said.
"The way that he's grown, being able to separate the offense and defense, play through injuries, play through discomfort, and to to get to 20-20 in 93 games while dealing with what he's dealt with, he worked extremely hard specifically against left-hand pitching, but overall this off-season put himself in a great spot and has followed up with an outstanding year."
The Pirates are already out of postseason contention and have six games left in 2026, so Cruz won’t get a chance to extend this run into October. Even so, he was one of the main reasons Pittsburgh stayed in the race as long as it did.
And if he can stay healthy in 2027, the Pirates will have every reason to believe he can be a major part of bringing winning baseball back to Pittsburgh.
"You learn every time," Cruz said on 2026. "This year, not an exception. I learned a lot this year, and also the conversations with the players that been around major league baseball before in the clubhouse, and put [their] advice in play, it helps a lot."
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