Pirates Roster Moves: Big Blow; Oneil Cruz Placed on Injured List
· Yahoo Sports
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates will be without their starting center fielder as Oneil Cruz has been placed on the 10-day injured list with non-displaced fourth and fifth metacarpal fractures in his left hand, retroactive to June 8.
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Cruz was scratched from Tuesday’s lineup against the Dodgers with recurring hand discomfort. The 27-year-old owns a .264/.350/.427 batting line with 10 doubles, 14 home runs, 44 RBI and 21 stolen bases in 64 games. Cruz ranks fourth in baseball in steals and is tied for ninth in homers.
Despite being tied for the MLB lead with 98 strikeouts, Cruz’s performance this season has been one of the key reasons the Pirates have had a much-improved showing offensively. Entering Wednesday night’s game, Pittsburgh is sixth in baseball with 336 runs.
To take Cruz’s place on the active roster, the Pirates recalled outfielder Billy Cook from Triple-A Indianapolis for what will be his third big-league stint this season. In 32 games combined between his first two stints on the year, Cook batted .190/.190/.190 (4 for 21) with three stolen bases and five runs. He made two starts in center, two in right and one at first base.
In 15 games with Indianapolis this year, Cook has a .291/.409/.473 batting line with one double, three home runs, 11 RBI and four stolen bases.
Jake Mangum will start in center field for the Pirates and will hit eighth on Wednesday night against the Dodgers. He’s expected to get the bulk of the playing time there in Cruz’s absence with Cook as the only other viable option currently on the active roster.
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