Oneil Cruz Stats
- Height / Weight
- 6' 7" / 215 lbs.
- Date of Birth (Age)
- 10/4/1998 (25)
- Experience
- 3
- College
- None
Oneil Cruz Season Stats
Last 10 Games
Oneil Cruz News
Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz has been slipped down to the eight-hole for Saturday's contest against the Boston Red Sox and right-hander Kutter Crawford. The 25-year-old has hit out of the seven spot on occasion this season, but the eight-hole is the lowest spot in the order he has started at so far while he has largely served as the team's leadoff hitter. However, he's off to a sluggish start at the plate, hitting .222 with three homers, one stolen base, and a .605 OPS across his first 85 trips to the plate on the young season. Even with a massive 40% strikeout rate against only a 4.7% walk rate, fantasy managers should continue to exercise patience, as Cruz ranks in the 88th percentile in average exit velocity and the 89th percentile in hard-hit rate to this point in the season.
Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz is getting the day off on Tuesday against the New York Mets. In his absence, Alika Williams will get the nod at shortstop and will hit in the nine-hole against Mets veteran left-hander Jose Quintana. Cruz will get a little breather against the left-handed hurler after going hitless in his last nine at-bats with seven strikeouts in the last two contests. The 25-year-old Dominican is now hitting .232 (16-for-69) on the year with three home runs, six RBI, one steal and eight runs scored in his first 17 games of 2024. Williams, 25, lacks power and will be a low-upside deep sleeper pick for DFS lineups on Tuesday night. He's hit just .212 (25-for-118) with no homers and eight RBI in 51 MLB games to date going back to last season.
Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz is getting a breather on Tuesday as the team takes on the visiting Detroit Tigers. With Cruz starting on the bench, Alika Williams will man shortstop for the Bucs and bat ninth in the order against Tigers right-hander Casey Mize, with infielder Jared Triolo in the leadoff spot. This will be the 25-year-old Cruz's second day off of the 2024 season. Cruz is a must-start fantasy asset anytime he's in the lineup, and he's off to a good start this year after missing most of last year due to an ankle injury. In his first 11 games, Cruz is batting .304 (14-for-46) with two home runs, a double, four RBI, a stolen base and seven runs scored in 49 plate appearances. Triolo will be worth a look as a low-cost DFS sleeper in the leadoff spot with Cruz out on Tuesday.
Batting Order
1 | Andrew McCutchen |
2 | Bryan Reynolds |
3 | Ke'Bryan Hayes |
4 | Connor Joe |
5 | Edward Olivares |
6 | Jared Triolo |
7 | Oneil Cruz |
8 | Michael A. Taylor |
9 | Henry Davis |
Oneil Cruz Stats
Last 10 Games
Batting Order
1 | Andrew McCutchen |
2 | Bryan Reynolds |
3 | Ke'Bryan Hayes |
4 | Connor Joe |
5 | Edward Olivares |
6 | Jared Triolo |
7 | Oneil Cruz |
8 | Michael A. Taylor |
9 | Henry Davis |
The hype train for Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz steamed right on into the 2023 season, only to see it come to a screeching halt just nine games in with a fractured ankle. During his 2022 call-up, it took a while to really get rolling, posting an 85 wRC+ in June, 70 in July, 89 in August, then finally breaking out with a 146 wRC+ in September/October. The final line was .233-17-54-45-10 with a .320 WOBA and 105 wRC+ in about half of a season's worth of action (361 PA, 87 games). The 35% K% from 2022 needs to come down, but he offered a glimmer of hope in the small 2023 sample, collecting seven BB to eight K in 40 PA (20.0% K%). The fleet-footed Cruz had a 98th-percentile sprint speed in 2022, so a full season of bigger bases and limited pitcher disengagements will be exciting to watch. FGDC projections are modest, with a .251-23-64-79-19 line, a WOBA of .338, and wRC+ of 110 in only 128 G (553 PA). RotoBaller ranks the 25-year-old at 80 overall, on par with his NFBC ADP. If he can manage closer to 145 G in the leadoff spot, he could easily finish Top-7 at his position.