Pirates' Oneil Cruz Out for 2023 amid Leg Injury; Expected Return for Spring Training

Oneil Cruz won't be playing baseball again in 2023.

The Pittsburgh Pirates announced Tuesday that the 24-year-old shortstop would not play again this season as he continues to recover from the fractured left fibula he suffered back on April 9.

The Pirates had been hopeful Cruz might still return to the field this season, though Tuesday's news is hardly surprising.

"We're really letting this play out," Pirates assistant GM Kevan Graves told 93.7 The Fan on Sunday. "It would take a meaningful development to see him on a Major League field this year. But never want to rule anything out."

Cruz had also been optimistic he might make a return, though in late August suffered a setback after his running progression had to be paused due to left foot soreness.

"You don't want it to happen, but it's normal with the kind of surgery we had to have a little bit of a setback," he told reporters at the time. "But we're optimistic that we're going to go back out again and do our best to get back as soon as possible."

Cruz has now appeared in 98 games across three MLB seasons, hitting .237 with 19 homers, 61 RBI, 54 runs, 13 stolen bases and a .751 OPS. In 87 games last season he ripped 17 homers and 54 RBI, stamping his mark as the team's shortstop of the future.

He told reporters before the season he was hoping to put together a 30-30 or even 40-40 season this year, though obviously his injury will push that goal back to 2024.

But he has the tools to be special, and alongside a number of other promising prospects has the future looking bright in Pittsburgh.

"Hopefully in the future, we can all be together," Cruz said of his young teammates last month. "I can't control the future, but it will be really good to play with a bunch of talented, young players that are now up here and make this team a special one."