Overview
- The Pirates activated Oneil Cruz on Monday, Aug. 17 and reinstated reliever Yohan Ramirez from the paternity list while optioning Hunter Barco and Ronny Simon to Triple-A as corresponding 26-man moves.
- Cruz missed roughly two months after sustaining two fractures to his left hand on a slide into home that sidelined him starting in early June.
- He completed six minor-league rehab games but struggled at the plate, going 3-for-22 with seven strikeouts, and was not in the starting lineup the night he was activated.
- Before the injury Cruz had posted a breakout stretch this season with 14 home runs, plus elite exit-velocity and hard-hit rates that make his return a meaningful upside for a Pirates club 6.5 games out of the NL wild-card race.
- General manager Ben Cherington said Cruz 'might not feel 100% until the offseason,' noting that fractures to the hand can sap swing speed and that the team will monitor his workload and pain as they evaluate game readiness, and the club still must clear a 40-man roster spot to finalize his place on the roster.