After hitting a baseball into the Allegheny on the fly, Oneil Cruz — fittingly wearing a T-shirt with an image of an explosion — said it feels normal for him.

“It feels good for sure, but I guess I'm getting used to it,” Cruz said, with major league coach Stephen Morales translating, “because I'm not feeling the same emotions I felt at the beginning of my career in the big leagues.”

Marcell Ozuna, sitting at his locker next to Cruz, called him out.

“Liar,” Ozuna said, drawing laughs.

Cruz showcased his power on Friday night with a 450-foot homer into the river, just the seventh in PNC Park history. He homered again Saturday. Both were reminders Cruz can do things few others can do.

Since last Sunday, he’s 8 for 25 (.320) with three homers, seven RBIs and a three-hit game. On the season, he’s hitting .258 with 13 homers, 40 RBIs, 17 stolen bases and a .795 OPS.

Yet he’s still not the player he can be. His defense in center field is, at best, a work in progress. He spent much of May slumping. He leads the league in strikeouts (90) by a large margin and is on pace for 247, which would shatter the MLB record of 223 (Mark Reynolds, 2009).

The Pirates aren’t particularly worried about the whiffs. Strikeouts are part of his game, a consequence of his power and his 6-foot-7 frame. When he does what he did Friday, or when he’s clicking like he has on this homestand, it’s all worth it.

“You do know that there’s the opportunity for the big hit, the big home run, for the production,” manager Don Kelly said. “He’s working hard. And we’re going to strike out at times.”

As long as Cruz’s preparation and attitude are right, Kelly’s happy.

“It's the process of him continuing to work, continuing to get better, continuing to do the things that he needs to do on a daily basis to have success,” Kelly said. “Just really proud of him, the way that he's gone about it and continues to work at it.”

Overcoming the downs

Kelly says he’s noticed a difference in Cruz this year.

Some of it is production. He spent time in the offseason taking batting practice from a left-handed pitcher, and after struggling mightily against lefties last year (11 for 108, .102), he’s actually been better against left-handers (.319 batting average) than right-handers (.229) this year.

Kelly has also seen a difference in Cruz’s demeanor.

“I think Oneil has gotten a lot better in handling [adversity],” Kelly said. “ ... There's nobody that feels worse than Oneil whenever something doesn't go right in the field. And he has shown that in different ways. Sometimes that's been in feeling bad, and I know the body language isn't great at times. I think he's gotten much, much better at that, in continuing to compete, continuing to go.”

Kelly pointed to an early season game in Cincinnati as an example. Cruz and Bryan Reynolds ran into each other in the outfield, resulting in a run. Earlier in his career, Cruz might have moped. Instead, Cruz came back to hit two homers.

Similarly, Cruz has gotten himself out of a recent skid in which he struck out 20 times in 39 at-bats. When he started slumping in 2025, he never got out of it. This time, he has.

Those bad days, I'm taking really easy,” Cruz said of his improved mental approach. “I don't put too much into it. Those are the days sometimes that I joke around more in the dugout, not to let them affect me and continue to move on.

Kelly thinks that could be Ozuna’s influence.

“Ozuna is probably the guy that has helped Oneil understand that side of the game,” Kelly said. “Yes, there’s pressure. Yes, there’s seriousness. It’s vital that we come through. [But] how do we learn everything you’re going through and not take it too seriously, where you’re trying too hard?”

‘He’s been pissed off’

On Tuesday, before Cruz went 3 for 4 with three singles in a 12-1 win against the Chicago Cubs, hitting coach Matt Hague said he had seen a difference recently with Cruz.

He thought fatigue was a factor, and that getting Cruz a few DH days against the Blue Jays (and a few days off of the Toronto turf) had helped him get to a better spot.

“I'll say the last three games — he was pissed off that he's been striking out so much,” Hague said Tuesday. “ ... The strikeout numbers, he's not ever happy about them. It's gonna come with it. It's the balance of it.”

Strikeouts are a tell for when Cruz isn’t right, but Hague also worries when he sees too many grounders to the right side. When that happens, an adjustment is needed. But on Monday, both of Cruz’s singles were to center. Then he had the three-hit day Tuesday.

Asked what’s worked this homestand, Cruz said he hasn’t made any changes.

“Just continue to work, put my work in and, like every other player, we have good days and bad days,” Cruz said. “Nothing specifically changed.”

But Ozuna has seen a difference, one of the simpler fixes in baseball. In his eyes, Cruz was sitting on offspeed pitches, which led to him freezing on fastballs and watching too many down the middle.

“I said, 'Don't worry about breaking balls. See fastballs and hit it,’ ” Ozuna said. “And then that's what he's looking for, and then react on the breaking ball.”

It’s simple baseball advice, a mindset that works from little league to pro ball, and it’s certainly worked over the past few days. Cruz, by the way, is seeing more fastballs (50 percent) than he ever has in the majors.

Continued progress

Now, it’s just about finding consistency. And that doesn’t mean entirely eliminating strikeouts.

“When you strike out as a player, you can't hide,” Kelly said. “Everybody knows what happened, and most importantly, the player knows. He's not going up there trying to strike out, he's going up there trying to hit the ball into the river and continue to compete.”

Cruz continued his hot stretch with a three-run homer against Bailey Ober on Saturday — on an 88 mph fastball above the zone. He’s on pace for his first 30-30 season.

He’s not a finished product, but Kelly doesn’t expect him to be.

“I think Oneil is a great example of that: a guy that was shortstop, moved to center field, has continued to learn, still learning how to play center field, and making adjustments at the plate, learning how to deal with failure and pressure and everything,” Kelly said.

“He has continued to get better.”

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