The Pirates are giving Oneil Cruz the night off at a surprising moment, sitting their center fielder for Tuesday’s game against the Cardinals at PNC Park on Sept. 23 and turning to Jake Mangum in center instead.
It’s the first time Cruz won’t start since Aug. 23, when Pittsburgh lost 4-0 to the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. That break comes even though Cruz has been one of the biggest reasons the Pirates have gotten production from the middle of their lineup.
The timing is what stands out most. Pittsburgh is set to face St.
Louis left-hander Matthew Liberatore, and the Pirates have struggled badly against southpaws this season, going 18-32 against left-handed starting pitching compared to 62-45 against right-handed pitching. Cruz, though, has been their best answer to that problem.
Against lefties, Cruz is hitting .323/.373/.476 with an .849 OPS. He has 40 hits in 124 at-bats, along with five doubles, a triple, four home runs and 19 RBI. That’s a huge jump from last season, when he hit .102 against left-handed pitching after spending time this offseason working on his approach, including batting practice against a left-handed pitcher.
He’s also had success against Liberatore specifically, going 3-for-6 with a double and an RBI. The Pirates have also handled Liberatore well this season, scoring four runs over 4.2 innings on May 19 and three runs over 5.2 innings on Aug. 30, both in games at Busch Stadium.
There’s another piece to the decision, too: Cruz is more than a month removed from his official return from a left-hand fracture, and he’s still dealing with pain. Pittsburgh is out of postseason contention, which gives the club room to give him a rest day rather than push him.
Even with the day off, Cruz’s overall stretch since returning has been strong. In 30 games, he’s batting .309/.402/.518 with a .920 OPS, plus 34 hits in 110 at-bats, three doubles, a triple, six home runs, 23 RBI and seven stolen bases.
Pittsburgh’s lineup against Liberatore features only two left-handed hitters: Brandon Lowe and Ryan O’Hearn. Lowe hits fourth for just the third time this season, after doing so against the Dodgers on Aug. 23 and in an 8-3 win over the Red Sox at PNC Park on Aug.
- O’Hearn is batting seventh for just the second time this season, having previously done it in a 6-5 win over the Royals at PNC Park on Sept.
The rest of the order has Rafael Flores Jr. batting second for the first time in his career, the highest he’s ever been placed in an MLB lineup. Konnor Griffin leads off, Jared Triolo hits seventh, Nick Gonzales bats fifth, Bryan Gonzales remains in the third spot, Ronny Simon is sixth and Mangum fills the ninth spot against St. Louis.
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Ryan OHearn saw enough in that stretch to leave with a positive view of where this club could be headed. He pointed to the competitiveness in the room and the leadership around the team as reasons for optimism, a notable endorsement at a time when some teams are already thinking ahead to next year. For the Pirates, the challenge now is turning this late surge into something more lasting once the calendar flips. [Read more 🡒]