Pirates’ Oneil Cruz joins extremely exclusive Lou Brock club

The Pittsburgh Pirates continue to play great baseball. The Pirates have not made the playoffs since 2015, but they are currently just 1.5 games outside of a playoff spot early in the season.

One of the reasons the Pirates continue to win has been the play of Oneil Cruz. Cruz launched his 10th home run of the season on Sunday, and with that joined an exclusive club, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com.

Cruz, with his tenth home run of the season, became just the third player ever to have ten home runs and 15 stolen bases before playing their 40th game of the season. He joined Eric Davis in 1987 and Lou Brock in 1967 as the only two to complete that feat.

The 1987 season was one of just two seasons in which Davis was an all-star, and just one of two years he won a Silver Slugger and finished inside the top ten in MVP voting. Davis, who was on the Cincinnati Reds that season, posted the best WAR of his career and finished with a career high of 37 home runs. He also stole 50 bases, another career high.

Brock was with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1976. It was the first time he was named an All-Star, and he finished seventh in MVP voting that year. He went on to steal 52 bases that year, which was below his career hit average. He also hit 21 home runs, the only time in his MLB career that he hit over 20 home runs in a season.

Both players were NL All-Stars and NL MVP candidates the year they started with ten home runs and 15 stolen bases in under 40 games. Cruz has never been an all-star or an MVP candidate, with the only award vote he has received being a sixth-place finish for Rookie of the Year in 2022.

The Pirates are now 22-19 on the season, and open up a series with the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night.

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