Bryan

De La Cruz

It’s a non-guaranteed deal, so De La Cruz will still have to make the team. The addition of a righty probably doesn’t take the Braves out of the market for a lefty outfielder to help fill in for Ronald Acuña Jr. and maybe supplant Jarred Kelenic in time. De La Cruz’s stock plummeted after he hit just .200/.220/.294 as a trade-deadline acquisition in Pittsburgh. He’s a poor defender in the outfield corners with a career 90 OPS+, so he’s very much in danger of falling out of the league.

There was more than one team interested in Cruz when the Pirates got him from the Marlins at the deadline, but no team was looking to trade for him now after he hit just .200/.220/.294 in 44 games for Pittsburgh. There’s still some promise in De La Cruz’s bat, but through 475 major league games, he’s sporting a 90 OPS+, and he’s a bit of a liability in an outfield corner. If he wants to remain a starter, it’ll probably have to be with a non-contender. The Pirates still have Jack Suwinski as an option, but they will surely be in the market for someone to join Bryan Reynolds and Oneil Cruz in their outfield.

Both of these are kind of surprising. Especially so with Joe, since the Pirates always seemed to be big fans of his. De La Cruz struggled after being acquired from Miami and is held back by his lack of defensive value, but as a first-time arbitration-eligible player, he wasn’t going to make a ton of money.

De La Cruz has struggled since being traded to the Pirates at the deadline. Coming into today, he was hitting .207 in 42 games with Pittsburgh while posting two home runs and striking out 48 times. Today’s home run was his 21st of the season and he certainly has power potential, but he’ll have to make more consistent contact to make good on that.

The Pirates probably figured they were getting a guy who would start in their outfield for a couple of years when they acquired De La Cruz at the deadline, but he’s performed poorly both offensively and defensively. They’ve also since moved Oneil Cruz to center, leaving them with just one outfield spot unspoken for going forward. As a first-time arbitration-eligible player, De La Cruz will be cheap enough that he shouldn’t be a non-tender candidate. He could be brought back to compete with Jack Suwinski, Cook and others for the right field job, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him get sent elsewhere in a minor deal.

De La Cruz doubled in the first inning to drive in Bryan Reynolds and would later blast a solo shot in the sixth inning. It was De La Cruz’s first homer as a Pirate after being traded at the deadline and is his 19th homer overall. The veteran outfielder needs just one more bomb to set a new career-high and should have plenty of time to get it done with little more than a month remaining in the season.

De La Cruz cleared the bases with a three-run double in the fifth inning to put the Pirates up 5-0. He has a hit in eight of his last nine games. De La Cruz is 12-for-34 (.352) with six RBI in that time. He’s hitting .244 with a .681 OPS and 58 RBI on the year.

The 27-year-old slugger is hitting .245/.289/.417 with 18 homers, 51 RBI and three stolen bases in 454 plate appearances on the season. He should add some much-needed thump to the middle of the Pirates’ lineup as they push to position themselves for one of the final Wild Card berths in the National League.

Forrester was the 20th-ranked prospect in the Pirates system and was just promoted to High-A earlier in the day. The 2023 third-round pick had hit .273 in 34 games in Single-A with a nearly 16 percent walk rate. A primary first baseman in college, the Pirates moved Forrester behind the plate where he has made real strides in his ability to control the run game. Where he ultimately ends up defensively is anybody’s guess.

Shim is the Pirates 17th-ranked prospect and was the second-highest-ranked pitcher on MLB Pipeline’s Top 50 International Prospects list when the 2023 signing period opened. The 6'4" righty has a fastball that can run up near triple digits and comfortably sit in the mid-90s. He also has a solid 12-6 curve and a new, harder slider. He’s made just four starts this season, but has a 3.38 ERA and a lot of projection to dream on.