Pirates Aren't Changing Their Mind on Bryan De La Cruz
The Pittsburgh Pirates could have made a bigger splash at the trade deadline, but took the more conservative route, landing a pair of hitters that didn't cost them a fortune.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa is the more polished of the two acquired position players, but Bryan De La Cruz was expected to be an impact, middle of the lineup bat. Since arriving, he's been a major disappointment, and is somehow worse than what the Bucs were rolling out there on a daily basis in right field prior to the deadline. In ten games, De La Cruz is...wait for it...7-of-42 at the plate, giving him a .167 batting average.
Players go through slumps all the time and it's not out of the ordinary for a guy to go through a bit of a rut after being traded, but this is an alarming situation. All seven of his hits have been singles which is not ideal for someone who you brought in to provide power and drive in runs. He's always been a high strikeout, low walk hitter and you can get by with that when you're hitting .240 or so collecting extra base hits. It doesn't play that well when you're not even hitting your own weight.
As poor as he's been in the batter's box and on the field, the Pirates are going to continue to give him every opportunity to bounce back and compete to be the every day right fielder heading into 2025. Why wouldn't they? Jack Suwinski isn't it. Ji-Hwan Bae isn't it. Connor Joe is a bench guy, and Joshua Palacios is injured.
De La Cruz is under club control through 2027 and has homered 50 times over the past three seasons. Despite not leaving the yard once since becoming a Pirate, he's still tied with Oneil Cruz for the second-most long balls on the team. A cheap, young, controllable player with power is something the Pirates don't have very much of at the big league level or in their farm system. And as evidenced in previous offseasons, GM Ben Cherington isn't one to go spend big money on a bat, even when it's a clear need. If they gave Rowdy Tellez, an older player that only cost $3.2 million the leash they did, they'll have the same patience with De La Cruz whether it's the right move or not.
SCHUYLER CALLIHAN