{"id":263362,"date":"2026-08-11T17:14:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T17:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/263362\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T17:14:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T17:14:13","slug":"pirates-change-oneil-cruz-rehab-assignment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/263362\/","title":{"rendered":"Pirates Change Oneil Cruz Rehab Assignment"},"content":{"rendered":"

PITTSBURGH \u2014 The Pittsburgh Pirates can’t wait for center fielder Oneil Cruz to fully return, and they’re hoping he’s close to doing just that.<\/p>\n

The Pirates will transfer Cruz’s rehab assignment from Triple-A Indianapolis to Double-A Altoona, starting with their series opener against Akron (Cleveland Guardians) at Peoples Natural Gas Field on Aug. 11.<\/p>\n

Cruz moves from Indianapolis to Altoona, as Indianapolis is on the road against Nashville (Milwaukee Brewers), while Altoona is home.<\/p>\n

It’s another chance for Cruz to build back up game fitness and rejoin the Pirates in the near future.<\/p>\n

When Will Cruz Return to the Pirates?<\/p>\n

It’s been more than two months since Cruz played for the Pirates on June 7, and he is also eligible to come off the 60-day injured list, with his first day eligible being back on Aug. 7.<\/p>\n

He started his rehab assignment<\/a> with Indianapolis on Aug. 7, instead, where he played two games against Iowa at Victory Field (home), marking his first game appearances since his injury.<\/p>\n

\"Pittsburgh<\/p>\n

May 30, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz (15) hits a three-run home run against the Minnesota Twins during the second inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Cruz didn’t have the best weekend, finishing 0-for-5 with two walks and three strikeouts, but he did play seven innings in each game in center field, getting him closer to finally returning.<\/p>\n

The 27-year old fractured his left hand<\/a> after sliding in at home plate against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on June 6, with catcher Austin Wynns applying the tag on his left hand.<\/p>\n

Cruz has worked back from that fracture, working through gripping exercises to build strength in his left hand up again and also going through him swinging a bat and withstanding contact.<\/p>\n

He had to work through some pain<\/a> before resuming all baseball activities, but he is now fully good to participate in these rehab assignment games.<\/p>\n

If all goes well over the next few days, it’s likely the Pirates would want Cruz back for their next homestand against the Boston Red Sox, Aug. 14-16, and the Detroit Tigers, Aug. 17-19.<\/p>\n

Pirates Seriously Need Cruz Back<\/p>\n

The Pirates are playing their worst baseball of 2026 and it’s threatening to take them out of the race for a National League Wild Card<\/a> spot quickly.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh has gone 8-15 out of the All-Star break, lost six straight series and won just six of their past 20 games, putting them at 58-62, four games below .500.<\/p>\n

\"Pittsburgh<\/p>\n

Aug 6, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates left fielder Bryan Reynolds (10) reacts after striking out in the first inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

The Pirates have seriously missed Cruz’s bat in the lineup, as they’ve struggled to score runs consistently.<\/p>\n

Cruz was having his best season<\/a> prior to his injury, batting .264\/.350\/.472 for an OPS of .822 in 64 games, with 66 hits, 10 doubles, 14 home runs, 44 RBI and 21 stolen bases.<\/p>\n

The Pirates would also want Cruz’s bat against left-handed pitchers, something they’ve struggled against, and something that Cruz made massive improvements with, slashing .312\/.361\/.506 for an OPS of .867.<\/p>\n

Cruz could make a big difference with his return and he’ll hope to finally get going during this rehab assignment and come back and help the Pirates in the near future.<\/p>\n

Make sure to visit Pirates OnSI for the latest news, updates, interviews and insight on the Pittsburgh Pirates!<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PITTSBURGH \u2014 The Pittsburgh Pirates can’t wait for center fielder Oneil Cruz to fully return, and they’re hoping…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263363,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-263362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263362\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}