Ben Cherington comments fuel Pirates fans' frustration over Oneil Cruz struggles

There’s a fine line between supporting your players and insulting your fans’ intelligence. Right now, Ben Cherington is walking directly on it — and judging by the reaction across Pittsburgh, he may have already crossed it.

Because when Pirates fans hear the general manager point to the World Baseball Classic as a contributing factor to Oneil Cruz’s Opening Day meltdown, all they hear are excuses. And they’re tired of it.

Cruz didn’t need anyone to tell him he messed up. Cherington is right about that. The misplays — the brutal read that turned into a three-run triple, the lost ball in the sun that helped derail Paul Skenes before he could even settle in — those are the kinds of mistakes that stick with a player long after the final out.

Cruz knows. The problem is, so does everyone else — and that’s exactly why Cherington’s comments land the way they do.

Because this isn’t happening in a vacuum. This isn’t a one-off, random blip for a player with a spotless defensive track record. Cruz’s struggles in the field have been a conversation — one the organization has been trying to manage, soften, and at times outright deflect for a while now.

So when Cherington says the WBC was “a blessing and a challenge,” and points out that Cruz didn’t get enough outfield reps for three weeks, fans roll their eyes. Three weeks? That’s the explanation for misreading a ball off the bat? For not wearing sunglasses on a bright afternoon? For mistakes that looked less like rust and more like instinctual lapses?

Come on.

Pirates need to stop making excuses for Oneil Cruz and hold him accountable

This is the part that frustrates people — not that the Pirates are supporting Cruz, but how they’re doing it.

There’s nothing wrong with rallying around a young, immensely talented player. In fact, it’s necessary. Cruz is still one of the most electrifying athletes in the sport, and if the Pirates are going to go anywhere in 2026, they need him confident, engaged, and improving.

But there’s a difference between support and spin. And right now, it feels like the Pirates are trying to explain away something that doesn’t need explaining.

We aren’t asking for Cruz to be buried publicly. We’re not asking for panic. What we are asking for is accountability that matches the moment — especially when those mistakes directly contributed to wasting a rare off day from Paul Skenes, the franchise ace who doesn’t get the same margin for error.

That imbalance hasn’t gone unnoticed. Pitchers are expected to be nearly flawless. Cruz, meanwhile, continues to be treated like a project the organization is still protecting — even as the stakes around him rise.

At some point, “he’s working on it” stops being enough. At some point, “it’s a process” starts to sound like a loop. And at some point, blaming the World Baseball Classic — even partially — just feels like reaching.

The Pirates don’t need to tear Cruz down. But they do need to stop dressing up the obvious.