Pirates' Oneil Cruz Benched for Lack of Effort After Losing Track of Outs vs. Brewers

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz was benched after the seventh inning of Tuesday's 9-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers for not running harder down the first base line to beat a double-play groundout, manager Don Kelly said after the game.

Cruz, who told reporters after the game that he had thought there were already two outs on the board, slowed down before he reached first base after Isiah Kiner-Falefa was tagged out at second.

"Just the energy and effort going down the line," Kelly said when asked about the decision to bench Cruz ahead of the eighth inning (h/t DK Pittsburgh Sports.) "We talked, but he knows the expectation, and right there, I think we fell a little short."

Kelly added he believed Cruz's struggles on offense, where he is batting .164 through 19 games in June, have contributed to his defensive lapses.

"It's hard when he's struggling at the plate right now," Kelly said. "It's difficult when you're going through that and trying to figure it out, and he's working hard to do that, and that's the one thing that we've got to be mindful of, is not letting that offense carry over to defense and base running and the energy and effort that we're giving in the other aspects of the game as well."

When asked if Cruz would return to the lineup for Wednesday's afternoon game against the Brewers, Kelly said, "We're gonna sit down and talk, and we'll figure that out."

Cruz said after the game that he took the blame for the benching and had "accepted it really well," per Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

"We have two guys here, [Andrew] McCutchen and Tommy Pham, who are really good examples," Cruz said, per Hiles. "They always run hard. They always go out there and give 100 percent. This is a teaching point for me, and I accept the way DK came to me and explained and presented it to me."

This is the second time in the last week Cruz has been under scrutiny for a perceived lack of effort for the Pirates.

During a 6-2 loss to the Texas Rangers last Friday, Cruz was slow to chase the ball after he missed a catch on a Sam Haggerty hit to center field that turned into a triple.

Kelly said on Saturday, after the Pirates lost 3-2 to the Rangers, that he believed Cruz had learned from that gaffe while backing up right fielder Adam Frazier in the following game.

“We talked a lot about Oneil yesterday and him learning from the perceived mistake in the outfield, and I think that he did,” Kelly said Saturday, per MLB.com's Alex Stumpf.

Cruz's offensive effort on Tuesday may have called that statement into question. If he is benched for Wednesday's season finale, Alexander Canario could get the call to replace him in center field.

The 26-year-old previously played at shortstop before he was moved to center field in August 2024. He is playing this season on a one-year, $785,000 contract for the Pirates, who fell to 32-49 on the season after Tuesday's loss.