Pittsburgh Pirates

Oneil Cruz

CF

Cruz was forced to exit Saturday's game with a left knee injury. The good news is an MRI came back negative, per Kevin Gorman of TribLive.com, but there's no reason to push Cruz to play during the regular-season finale. He will finish the 2026 campaign having hit .280/.368/.486 with 20 home runs and 30 stolen bases over just 97 contests.

Mitch Keller

SP

Keller has remained shut down since being diagnosed with a right teres major strain in early August. The rest appears to have accomplished its goal thus far, and Keller looks to be on track to have a normal offseason throwing program. Keller held a 5.29 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and 89:42 K:BB over 115.2 innings for the Pirates this season.

Braxton Ashcraft

SP

Ashcraft landed on the 15-day injured list last week with right arm discomfort. He received multiple medical opinions and his injury is not considered serious, but the Pirates will not push the right-hander to return before the end of the season. Ashcraft had a breakout year for Pittsburgh, logging a 3.65 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 173:35 K:BB over 165.1 innings covering 28 starts.

Esmerlyn Valdez

RF

The Pirates have yet to provide an update on Valdez's status after he exited Friday's game with a left hamstring injury, though he will need at least one day off to recover. Jake Mangum will start in right field Saturday and could continue to do so if Valdez needs to spend time on the IL.

Isaac Mattson

RP

The right-hander has been shuttled between Triple-A and the majors throughout the season and is now getting another look with the Pirates. Mattson has pitched in 37 MLB games this season and has a 4.91 ERA, 1.58 WHIP and 34:18 K:BB over 36.2 innings.