Bryan De La Cruz's spring training performance has Pirates fans silently fuming

Bryan De La Cruz was always going to get the boot after his disappointing half-season with the Pirates last year. He was supposed to be Pittsburgh's answer to Jack Suwinski's demotion, and at the time of the trade, De La Cruz was easily the Marlins' best bat, with 18 homers and 51 RBI through 105 games. However, De La Cruz lost all of that power, even in PNC Park's relatively hitter-friendly confines, and he ended up hitting just .200 with a .514 OPS, three homers, and 17 RBI through 44 games.

The Pirates filled outfield gaps this offseason with Tommy Pham and Enmanuel Valdez, while De La Cruz went to the Braves on a one-year deal. He's currently fighting with Jarred Kelenic for a spot on the Opening Day roster in right field.

De La Cruz's time with the Pirates was completely unremarkable, which makes it even more frustrating that he's been one of the Braves' best bats in spring training. His .333 average is the third-best of any Braves batter who's played in 10 or more games. He has the second-most doubles, three RBI, and has only struck out twice.

Bryan De La Cruz is tearing it up in Braves spring training after release from Pirates

Both Kelenic and De La Cruz would be temporary options to fill right field while Ronald Acuña Jr. continues to come back from a knee injury/surgery that kept him out for most of 2024, but Kelenic's lopsided numbers in spring training could be making De La Cruz the more attractive option. Kelenic has the higher OPS through 10 games (.861 to De La Cruz's .823) thanks to two solo homers, but his slugging is doing most of the work there, and he has a .174 average with six strikeouts.

While overreacting to spring training stats usually isn't a wise thing to do, these last few spring games could be De La Cruz's ticket to an everyday role with the Braves, and it's more than frustrating for Pirates fans to see him be able to pull out that kind of productivity on top of far more patience at the plate (he has a 6.9 K% so far in spring) when he ended up being a non-factor, for the most part, in the Pirates' lineup last year.

It'll be even more salt in the wound if De La Cruz does end up in right field for the Braves on Opening Day, but with the way things are going, that seems more likely than not.