The ideal Pittsburgh Pirates lineup when June begins

Center Field: Oneil Cruz

Oneil Cruz will continue to line up in center field. Cruz broke out in 2024, posting a 110 wRC+ with a 20/20 campaign in his first full big league season. However, the start of this year has been even more promising and, with the sort of improvements he's made at the dish, could lead to an even better season as the year progresses.

Cruz owns a .239/.369/.462 line, .362 wOBA, and 129 wRC+. He's hitting for plenty of power, with eight home runs and a .223 isolated slugging percentage. Speed has always been part of Cruz's game, but his base running efficiency is elite. He's only gotten caught once in 17 attempts this year. He also only got caught trying to steal just a single time last year, but in 23 tries. Cruz is making outstanding swing decisions, as he's drawn a walk 16.3% of the time, and improved his chase rate from 31.7% to just 26.5%. Though strikeouts have still been a problem, he has cut his K% down below 30% to 29.4%.

Cruz is obliterating the baseball, with a 96.5 MPH exit velocity and a 22.4% barrel percentage. He has both an xwOBA over .400 at .403 and an xSLG% over .500 at .523, showing there's definitely more in Cruz's tank than what his bottom line suggests (even though his bottom line is still very good).

Cruz's defense in center has been shaky, to say the least. He has -7 defensive runs saved, but zero outs above average. When Cruz moved to the outfield late last season, he got the best jump on fly balls among any outfielder in baseball and ran efficient routes as well. This season, Cruz has graded out as below average in terms of jump and route running. While you could chalk some of his struggles up to growing pains, it's a little disappointing to see him stumble out of the gates this year with the glove, given how good he looked (despite having very little playing time) in the outfield when the Pirates originally moved him there last season.

Cruz's defense has looked better in recent games, and that's a big step forward for him. His bat will play anywhere, and he currently looks like one of the best hitting center fielders in the game. Even if he plays just average defense from here on out, let alone returns to the level we saw him at during September 2024, he'll be one of the most valuable players at his position.

Right Field: Bryan Reynolds

For the love of god, please let Bryan Reynolds get hot.

There's been nothing more frustrating than Bryan Reynolds this year. Chances are, the most frustrated person at Bryan Reynolds is Bryan Reynolds. We know he's better than this, he knows he's better than this, and at some point, things just have to start clicking and going right for him.

It's only been 193 plate appearances, but Reynolds is only hitting .194/.259/.309 with a .253 wOBA and 55 wRC+. His 7.8% walk rate is on pace to be a career low for him, while his 28.5% K% is on pace to be a career high for the veteran outfielder. So what exactly is going wrong? What is he doing so differently this year compared to last year?

There are still things Reynolds is doing right, or just as well as any other year of his career. Both his 90.7 MPH exit velocity and 11.5% barrel rate are well above league average and represent career bests. His 26.5% chase rate is also better than the league average, as well as his career average of 27.9%. His whiff rate is slightly up, sitting at 29.3%, but isn't any worse than the 28.5% whiff rate he showed between 2022 and 2024, when he still had a 117 wRC+. 

Some of Reynolds' struggles can be chalked up to bad batted ball luck. His batting average on balls in play is a mere .248. His career average heading into this year was .328, with his single-season high being .387. Since Reynolds is putting up a career-best exit velo and barrel rate, hopefully he can catch up in this department.

Defensively, Reynolds was moved to right field, where he has looked better compared to left field, but still not great. He has -2 DRS and -3 OAA in 241.1 innings in the outfield grass. He has a strong enough arm and enough range to play right field, and his route running is good. However, his jump is the fifth worst in baseball.

Reynolds heating up as the weather heats up is going to be important for this lineup. He needs to start finding his groove. Getting Reynolds going would be a game-changer for the Pirates. Hopefully, he can start hitting better, because the Pirates need him to hit more than anyone right now.

Designated Hitter: Andrew McCutchen

Last but certainly not least, we have the Pirates' designated hitter, Andrew McCutchen. Even as Cutch continues his playing career into his late-30s, he's proven he still has some gas left in the tank. He's been hitting well this year, especially in the month of April, and has been an on-base machine for the Bucs.

McCutchen is batting .254/.352/.385 with a .329 wOBA and 107 wRC+ through 143 plate appearances. He is not striking out at a high rate, with only a 15.4% K% and 24.8% whiff rate, and he's continued to draw walks at an exceptional pace, drawing a free pass in 12.6% of his trips to the dish and chasing outside the strike zone 22.2% of the time. The only downside is that Cutch hasn't hit for much power this year, with only three home runs and a .131 isolated slugging percentage.

But Cutch is also in the 70th percentile or better of multiple statistics on Baseball Savant, some of which are good indicators of potential power production that could be around the corner for the veteran. This includes xBA (.276), xSLG% (.477), xwOBA (.366), and barrel rate (11.9%). He hasn't put up an xSLG% above in a full year .450 since 2017, when he smacked 28 home runs, which still remains the second most he's ever hit in one season. This is also the second time Cutch has ever put up a barrel rate over 10%.

Even though McCutchen will mostly play DH from here on out, the Pirates haven't been afraid of putting him in the outfield on occasion. He even has +2 DRS and +1 OAA in 61 innings between the outfield corners. Given his ability to reach base at a high rate and potential to still hit some home runs, he'll be just fine as the Pirates' designated hitter.