One Oneil Cruz problem that may alter the Pirates' offseason plans

For a while, it looked like 2025 would finally be a true breakout campaign for Oneil Cruz. He entered May with an OPS north of .900, he put on an absolute clinic at this year's Home Run Derby, he leads the National League in stolen bases, and (by some metrics) he's made serious strides defensively in his first full season as a center fielder.

Now, he's been 10% below league-average offensively for the entire season, he has an OPS below .700 and a batting average just above the .200 mark, and he's batted in the top four of the batting order only two times in the last month. He's been one of MLB's worst hitters for months now.

While he's taken a step back in most areas, perhaps the most significant has been his struggles against left-handed pitching. He unsurprisingly has had his difficulties with southpaws throughout his career, but he actually raked against them for most of the second half of 2024. To say that he's reverted back to his old ways would be an understatement.

Cruz's slash against lefties currently sits at .104/.228/.179. That's a measly 11 hits in 123 plate appearances to go along with a strikeout rate north of 35%. Among all MLB hitters (of any handedness) with at least 100 plate appearances against left-handers, Cruz's .407 OPS is 41 points lower than the next closest hitter.

More than 42% of all pitches Cruz has swung at against lefties have resulted in whiffs this year, which is a 10% increase from 2024. His quality of contact against left-handers (91.2 MPH average exit velocity, .234 xwOBA) pales in comparison to his output against righties (97.0 MPH, .372 xwOBA).

While he's still been an above-average hitter against right-handed pitching, that level of production against lefties is unplayable. That could complicate matters as Ben Cherington (or whoever is the Pirates' GM come November) attempts to add to the offense this winter.

Oneil Cruz's struggles against left-handers could make it harder for the Pirates to assemble a complete roster.

It may benefit the Pirates to try to find a capable right-handed-hitting center fielder to pair with Cruz. However, that would likely interfere with the team re-upping with Andrew McCutchen and Tommy Pham, both righty-hitting outfielders who, at this stage in their careers, are no longer center fielders (and, in McCutchen's case, may not be worth putting in the field at all).

McCutchen re-signing is essentially a sure thing if he decides he wants to come back, and Pham has spoken out on multiple occasions about how much he enjoys Pittsburgh, and he's still here even after both the trade deadline and postseason roster eligibility deadline have passed.

It would be difficult to roster (and find adequate playing time for) three of those players. Using three out of five roster spots (between the designated hitter and the bench) on right-handed hitting outfielders when only one can play center field just doesn't make much sense. Alexander Canario has survived much of the season on the active roster, but he's often seemingly gone weeks at a time without getting significant playing time, and he likely won't factor into the team's 2026 plans.

The Pirates must commit to fielding a better offense in 2026, and part of that should include not having an automatic out in center field every time they face a southpaw. At this point, it's reasonable to expect Cruz to struggle in those situations. The front office needs to decide how to address that and assess what that might mean for others currently in the fold.