Pirates News: Bailey Falter history, Oneil Cruz record, Nick Solak on the move

Pittsburgh Pirates left-hander Bailey Falter finished May with one of the best showings by a starting pitcher in franchise history – and he got shafted by MLB for May's Pitcher of the Month award.

Falter dominated in all five his five starts in May, allowing just three earned runs over 35 2/3 innings. He gave up 17 hits and 13 walks while recording 19 strikeouts while holding opposing hitters to a .147 batting average.

Falter's 0.76 ERA in the month of May ranks as the third-lowest for a Pirates pitcher in a single month during the Live Ball era (1920-present). Falter trails only Zane Smith (0.66 ERA in September 1990) and – naturally – teammate Paul Skenes (0.75 ERA in September 2024).

Falter lost out on MLB's National League Pitcher of the Month award for May to San Francisco Giants lefty Robbie Ray, who pitched to a 1.38 ERA with 45 strikeouts over 39 innings pitched. Kansas City Royals southpaw Kris Bubic earned the American League honors with an ERA of 0.56 with 33 strikeouts over 32 1/3 innings pitched.

Pirates News: Oneil Cruz leads all MLB with speed on base paths

Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz showcased his lighting-fast speed on the base paths against the San Diego Padres last weekend, skyrocketing to the top of the MLB leaderboards in the process.

After Cruz led off the game with a double, he advanced to third on a blooper single by Bryan Reynolds. He then blew through third base coach Mike Rabelo's stop sign and slid safely into home with time to spare. In doing so, Cruz clocked the fastest time from third to home (2.99 seconds) in all of baseball this season.

Through 54 games in 2025, Cruz has already tied his stolen base total from last season with 22. That total currently leads all of MLB in 2025.

Pirates News: Nick Solak rejects Triple-A assignment, elects free agency

Pirates utility man Nick Solak has elected free agency, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. Pittsburgh outrighted him to Triple-A Indianapolis on Tuesday, but he rejected the assignment in favor of testing the open market for his next opportunity.

Solak joined the Pirates on a minor league contract this season and slashed an impressive .393/.452/.625 with six home runs in 32 games at Triple-A before the big league club selected his contract midway through May. He recorded just one hit in 11 at-bats for the Pirates before they bumped him off the roster to make room for second baseman Nick Gonzales, who was activated off the injured list.

Though the 29 other teams passed on the chance to grab him off waivers, Solak will almost certainly get another minor-league deal in short order. His defensive versatility and strong hitting stats in the minors can make him valuable non-roster depth piece for another organization.

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