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Cruz

Cruz has done it again. His sixth inning home run vaulted the Pirates ahead and they never looked back. It was ridiculous to watch how he hit it out too. Cruz stuck with a back-door sweeper from Griffin Jax that would’ve landed perfectly on the low-and-outside corner. Instead, he extended his long arms to yank it over the tall right field wall at PNC Park. His bottom hand even flew off the handle and altogether it looked like the type of swing you’d see in a slow-pitch softball league. Instead, it had an 84 mph swing speed and he turned the game upside down with it. This was his sixth home run so far this season along with 19 RBI, nine stolen bases, and a .313/.382/.588 slash line. To this point, he’s been arguably the most productive offensive player in the whole league.

After drawing a bases-loaded walk in the second inning, Cruz pushed his hitting streak, the longest in the majors this season, to 12 consecutive games with a fourth-inning single. The 27-year-old deserves a ton of credit for making adjustments to address his struggles against left-handed pitching and has looked completely locked-in at the plate to open the season, hitting .355 (22-for-62) with five homers, 16 RBI and seven steals through 16 contests.

Cruz continues to swing a hot stick, and he gave the Pirates an early lead with a 422-foot tank off Jameson Taillon to leadoff the game. That’s already the fifth homer for the 27-year-old, and the steal gives him a combo meal and six swipes on the year. Cruz has obviously been a relevant player since being called up. Is it possible this is the season where everything clicks? You need more sample than this to say for sure, but boy does Cruz look good to begin the year.

Cruz was doing so well that the Cubs actually had lefty Caleb Thielbar intentionally walk him in the 11th. It definitely factored in there that it was another lefty, Brandon Lowe, hitting behind Cruz, but that was still something for a guy who was benched against lefties down the stretch last year. Three of Cruz’s four hits left his bat at 113+ mph. He now has five steals to go along with his four homers.

Cruz worked Cubs’ left-hander Shota Imanaga for a two-out walk in the second inning — the only baserunner the Pirates would muster in six innings against the southpaw. He then singled with two outs in the seventh and swiped second base to get himself into scoring position, but the Pirates were unable to cash him in. The 27-year-old slugger has been sizzling at the plate to start the season, slashing .300/.352/.580 with four homers, 12 RBI and a pair of steals.

Cruz was hit by a pitch to start the game for the Pirates but was then doubled off on a line drive. He then plated a run with an RBI infield single in the third inning and raced around to score on a two-run double off the bat of Ryan O’Hearn. Cruz did the bulk of his damage in the sixth, clobbering a 415-foot (107.2 mph EV) two-run shot off of Cade Povich that increased the Pirates’ lead to 8-1. He’s off to an outstanding start to the 2026 campaign, slashing .314/.368/.657 with four homers and 10 RBI, though he has yet to steal a base.

For the second straight game, Cruz homered off a left-handed pitcher, crushing a 407-foot home run at 107.4 mph off the bat against Andrew Abbott. After struggling mightily against left-handers last season, Cruz hired a left-handed pitcher to throw him batting practice all offseason, and perhaps it’s working. The much-maligned 27-year-old is now hitting .304/.333/.696 on the season with three home runs and six RBI. Yes, the batting average will come down, but if Cruz can sustain some of these gains against left-handed pitching, he could be in for a nice bounce-back season.

It’s hard to bench a player when he goes 3-for-3 with two home runs, but considering yesterday was against a left-handed starter too, it makes sense for the Pirates to continue to put Cruz in the lineup against all pitchers until he starts to cool down. If the 27-year-old can go back to being just serviceable against left-handed pitching, he could be in for a big season.

Cruz got off to another shaky start, colliding with Bryan Reynolds on a fly to left to let in a run in the third. He more than made up for it, though. Cruz hit eighth tonight against lefty Brandon Williamson after sitting out the first time the Pirates took on a southpaw. His first homer came off Williamson, with the second providing insurance in the ninth against Pierce Johnson. If he’s in the lineup against another left-hander in Andrew Abbott on Wednesday, it will almost surely be because of the strong showing tonight. He didn’t start any of the previous three times the Pirates faced Abbott.

Cruz will be in the lineup against a left-hander for the first time since August of last year. The 27-year-old will hit against Brandon Williamson near the bottom of the lineup. Jared Triolo is out of the lineup with Nick Gonzales lining up at shortstop and Nick York at the hot corner.