Oneil Cruz Fantasy Stats

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz (illness) is back in the starting lineup ahead of Tuesday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Cruz was scratched ahead of Monday's contest due to an illness. He needed a rest day anyway after going 0-for-10 at the plate with five strikeouts over his last two games. Outside of that, it has been a productive beginning of the season for Cruz, who is slashing .259/.320/.518 with eight home runs, 24 RBI, and 10 steals across 27 games. He'll bat in the leadoff spot and cover center field against right-hander Kyle Leahy on Tuesday.

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz (illness) was scratched from the team's starting lineup on Monday against the division-rival St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park, according to the team. With Cruz being under the weather, Jake Mangum made the start in center field for the Bucs and was hitting eighth in the batting order against Cardinals right-hander Dustin May. First baseman Spencer Horwitz was also moved up to the leadoff spot. Fantasy managers should consider Cruz to be day-to-day. Check back on Tuesday to see if he's feeling good enough to return to action for Game 2 of the series in the Steel City. The 27-year-old Dominican has already had his fair share of mishaps on defense in center field as he continues to transition from shortstop to center field in the big leagues, but fantasy managers can't complain about his bat through his first 112 at-bats of the year. Cruz came into Monday's action slashing .259/.320/.518 with an .838 OPS, eight long balls, 24 RBI, 10 stolen bases, and 19 runs scored. He led the league with 38 steals in 2025 and is an elite power speed option in fantasy when he's healthy.

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz continued his hot start to the 2026 season by going 2-for-5 with a double, two stolen bases, an RBI, a run scored, and a strikeout in the team's 8-7 extra-inning loss at PNC Park to the Washington Nationals on Thursday. Cruz came into Thursday's game slashing .310/.380/.563 with a .943 OPS, five home runs, 16 RBI, seven stolen bases, 14 runs scored, seven walks, and 25 strikeouts in 18 games played. It's very nice to see for the Pirates and fantasy managers who have been waiting for Cruz's breakout season. He did have 20 home runs, 61 RBI, and a league-high 38 stolen bases in 135 games in 2025, but he also hit just .200 (94-for-471) with 174 strikeouts in 544 plate appearances. The 27-year-old Dominican has some of the best bat speed and exit velocities in the big leagues, so if he can cut down on the whiffs, his power/speed upside makes him extremely dynamic for fantasy baseball purposes.

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz continued his hot start to the season in his team's 8-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday, going two-for-five with a home run, three RBI, and an additional run scored. Perhaps most importantly for Cruz's fantasy outlook, his home run came against Reds left-handed starter Andrew Abbott. The lefty-swinging Cruz has traditionally struggled against same-handed pitching throughout his career and has often been platooned, but he got the start against Abbott on Wednesday and delivered. Through his first 24 plate appearances of 2026, Cruz is hitting .304 with three home runs, six RBI, and seven runs scored. The 27-year-old has also struck out 10 times, so his batting average is likely to regress closer to his career mark of .233 over a larger sample. Still, if Cruz can do enough damage against lefties to earn everyday playing time, he could post monster power and speed totals for fantasy managers in 2026.

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz is not in the starting lineup for his team's matchup with the New York Mets and left-handed starting pitcher David Peterson on Saturday. Switch-hitter Jake Mangum will take Cruz's spot in center field and bat ninth. Cruz's 2026 season got off to a rough start in Pittsburgh's opener against the Mets on Thursday, as he struck out three times in five plate appearances and misplayed a ball in center field that led to multiple runs for New York. The 27-year-old owns a slash line of .172/.247/.313 with a 38.4% strikeout rate in 401 career plate appearances against left-handed pitching. It appears that Pittsburgh is planning to deploy Cruz in a true big-side platoon role in center field, at least to begin 2026. Cruz's power/speed profile makes him a high-upside fantasy outfielder, but his ability to rack up counting stats is limited by his lack of everyday playing time.

Pittsburgh Pirates hitting coach Matt Hague said that outfielder Oneil Cruz hired a left-handed batting practice coach on the second day of the offseason and worked on hitting lefties all offseason. Cruz reached the 20-homer mark for the second straight year in 2025 and also had a league-high 38 stolen bases, but he hit a career-low .200 (94-for-471) with 174 strikeouts in 544 plate appearances. Against southpaws, he went just 11-for-108 (.102) with one of his 20 home runs and 44 K's in 125 plate appearances. Cruz has elite bat speed and exit velocities when he contacts a baseball, but issues making contact have lowered his fantasy value going into his sixth year in the big leagues. The 27-year-old was the first player in MLB history to hit 20-plus homers and steal 30-plus bases while batting under .230. If Cruz can improve against lefties and find a way to make more consistent contact, he should easily be a top-20 fantasy outfielder. Right now, RotoBaller has him ranked at No. 29.

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz has reportedly worked hard this offseason to improve his body and the issues he had last season. Cruz said there was no time to relax and immediately got back to work when he got home. The 27-year-old wants to focus on getting better, which is exactly what the Pirates want to hear from Cruz, who struggled last season. In 2025, Cruz posted a .200/.298/.378 slash line with 20 home runs, 61 RBI, and 38 stolen bases in 135 games. Before that, Cruz was a 2.5 WAR player during the 2024 campaign. The Pirates are hopeful that Cruz and bounce back and return to the type of production that he was giving during the 2024 season.

The Pittsburgh Pirates and outfielder Oneil Cruz have avoided arbitration and settled on a one-year, $3.3 million contract. After a promising 2024 season in which Cruz held a .259/.324/.449 line with 21 home runs and 22 stolen bases, the 27-year-old took a significant step back in 2025. Last summer, Cruz saw his batting average drop to .200, and he hit just 20 home runs. However, he did flash even higher speed potential, swiping a career-best 38 bags. While he continued to hit the ball hard, as evident in his 17.9% barrel rate and 56.6% hard-hit rate, he was unable to make consistent contact. Cruz placed in the second percentile in K% (32.0%) and the third percentile in whiff rate (34.0%). While managers in standard leagues may target him for his speed production, they should construct their roster accordingly, as he is projected to remain a low batting average contributor in 2026.

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz (ankle) remains out of the starting nine for Friday's series opener against the hosting Atlanta Braves at Truist Park. Alexander Canario is starting in center field and will hit seventh against Braves left-hander Joey Wentz. Cruz injured his left ankle on Wednesday against the Cincinnati Reds and will sit out for the second straight game. With Pittsburgh having nothing to play for in the final series of the season this weekend, they won't rush the 26-year-old back into the lineup. If this is it for the Dominican in 2025, he will finish just a hair over the Mendoza Line with a .201 batting average (94-for-467) in 133 games. It's by far the lowest average in his five big-league seasons, but Cruz was still able to reach the 20-homer mark for the second straight season and also has stolen a league-high 38 bases. His swing-and-miss tendencies have to be a real concern heading into 2026, though.

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz (ankle) exited the team's game against the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday with discomfort in his left ankle, according to Alex Stumpf of MLB.com. Cruz suffered the injury when he collided with the wall in center field in the eighth inning, and the Pirates brought in Jack Suwinski to replace him in the ninth. He ended the night 0-for-4 with three strikeouts to continue a prolonged slump. Cruz posted an unsightly .502 OPS in August and entered Wednesday's game with a .584 mark over 18 games in September. While Cruz has smacked 20 homers and totaled a career-high 38 stolen bases this season, he has registered a disappointing .201/.300/.381 line with 61 RBI and 62 runs scored in 540 plate appearances.