Brandon Lowe's Oneil Cruz praise will make Pirates fans feel wildly optimistic

Few players in baseball can hit a baseball harder than Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz. The six-foot-seven, 240-pound 27-year-old tantalizes with the potential his massive tools bring to the table.

In 2025, Cruz showed just how loud those tools can be. His average bat speed came in at a whopping 78.8 miles per hour, a 100th percentile mark. Unsurprisingly, that vicious bat speed yielded a 100th percentile average exit velocity, clocking in at 95.8 miles per hour. Cruz also posted a 98th percentile hard hit rate (56.6%) and a 97th percentile barrel rate (17.9%).

New teammate Brandon Lowe took note of Cruz's unique skills in some post-trade comments that are sure to fire fans up, while also giving hope for what the lineup as a whole can look like when working in unison.

Brandon Lowe's Oneil Cruz comments show the potential of the new-look Pirates lineup

Speaking about Cruz, Lowe said, "Watching him hit a baseball is a little infuriating at times for pretty much every other baseball player in the league. He hits the absolute mess out of the ball. He's extremely fun to watch. He's explosive. It translates bat to ball."

Lowe would move on to speak about Bryan Reynolds, comparing him to the jack-of-all-trades Yandy Diaz in the Tampa Bay Rays lineup.

"You know what you're gonna get out of him [Diaz]. The at-bats are the same. He's going to go out and take care of his business. He's gonna give you a fantastic at-bat every single time."

Lowe then explained that the trio of Cruz, Reynolds, and himself can come together to form a formidable heart of the order, no matter which way the three were slotted, believing the trio can also help take the pressure off of each other.

It's a beautiful sentiment, and one that isn't quite wrong, either. If the trio reaches its full potential, it can form a dynamic heart of the order. A lot of that working out hinges on Cruz.

Cruz needs to improve his angles, get better against fastballs, and figure out a way to get more aggressive early in the count while not sacrificing his stellar 11.8% walk rate. If he can do that, he can finally turn those tools into production on a regular basis. Combine that with a bounce-back year from Reynolds and a vintage Lowe performance, and you can see that the Pirates' new second baseman is spot on in his assessment.

That alone won't fix all of Pittsburgh's offensive woes. It is a start, however. If that were to happen, along with Spencer Horwitz hitting as he did in the second half when he posted a .916 OPS, as well as another above-average bat in Ryan O'Hearn making an impact in free agency, you might see a real transformation in the lineup.

It all hinges on Cruz living up to his tremendous potential, because, as Lowe noted, few can hit the ball as he does; he just needs to hit it with consistency.