Oneil Cruz Stats
- Height / Weight
- 6' 7" / 210 lbs.
- Date of Birth (Age)
- 10/4/1998 (24)
- Experience
- 0
- College
- None
Oneil Cruz Season Stats
Last 10 Games
Oneil Cruz News
Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz had a nice day at the plate in Monday's 8-3 win over the Reds. Cruz went 4-for-5 with four singles and two runs scored. He also made a fielding error. The 23-year-old rookie has shown flashes of his immense potential but has also shown that he has plenty of things to work on, slashing .225/.281/.454 with 17 home runs, 51 RBI, eight stolen bases out of 12 attempts, and a 36.7% strikeout rate this season. Cruz will likely be an intriguing fantasy option once again next season. The power and speed combination is apparent, but Cruz will need to cut down on the strikeouts to take his overall profile to the next level.
Pittsburgh Pirates rookie shortstop Oneil Cruz is not in the starting lineup on Monday against the Cincinnati Reds. Cruz is just getting a normal day of rest against Reds left-hander Mike Minor. The 23-year-old Dominican is hitting just .227/.275/.462 on the year in 251 at-bats, but he's been red-hot in the month of September. Cruz has gone 14-for-38 (.368) with three home runs, nine RBI, five runs scored and a stolen base in nine games since Sept. 2, so fantasy managers will want to get him back into their lineups on Tuesday. Kevin Newman is at shortstop and is batting leadoff on Monday against Minor. Newman could be a DFS sleeper out of the leadoff spot, but he has just one home run on the year in 240 at-bats for the Bucs. He's gone 29-for-79 (.367) with no homers, seven doubles and seven RBI against lefties in 2022.
Pittsburgh Pirates rookie shortstop Oneil Cruz went 1-for-4 in the 7-5 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night with a three-run home run, a run scored, a walk and a strikeout. While Cruz certainly has plenty of upside with the bat, he's hit just .200/.253/.410 with 11 home runs, 33 RBI, 25 runs scored and six stolen bases in 221 plate appearances and 56 games for the Bucs in 2022. He's gone 15-for-79 (.190) with five long balls, 11 RBI, eight runs scored and 37 strikeouts in 22 games in the month of August. Fantasy managers aren't happy with all of those strikeouts, but his power/speed combination is enough to make him worthy of being rostered in all fantasy formats down the stretch.
Batting Order
| 1 | Oneil Cruz |
| 2 | Bryan Reynolds |
| 3 | Miguel Andújar |
| 4 | Jack Suwinski |
| 5 | Rodolfo Castro |
| 6 | Cal Mitchell |
| 7 | Ben Gamel |
| 8 | Tyler Heineman |
| 9 | Ji Hwan Bae |
Oneil Cruz Stats
Last 10 Games
Batting Order
| 1 | Oneil Cruz |
| 2 | Bryan Reynolds |
| 3 | Miguel Andújar |
| 4 | Jack Suwinski |
| 5 | Rodolfo Castro |
| 6 | Cal Mitchell |
| 7 | Ben Gamel |
| 8 | Tyler Heineman |
| 9 | Ji Hwan Bae |
Add Cruz to the very long list of people who are glad 2020 is over. Along with the pandemic and the lack of a minor league season, this young infielder dealt with a serious blow to his prospect value due to concerns about his maturity, which were made even worse when he was involved in a fatal car accident in the Dominican Republic. He appears to have escaped any punishments for the accident which should allow him to play baseball in North America in 2021. The hulking 6-foot-7 infielder has massive raw power think 30+ home runs but he doesn't tap into it consistently enough. Cruz hits too many balls on the ground and needs to improve his launch angle. It's not uncommon for taller hitters to take longer to find consistency with their swing but will this particular prospect put in the necessary work to get better or is he willing to slide by on natural talent? That is the (multi-) million-dollar question. Cruz's upside is massive especially if he can stick in the middle of the diamond but he's a difficult prospect to get behind and really believe in before hearing some reports that highlight a shift in maturity and focus. He's possibly worth a flyer in dynasty leagues and may find his way to Pittsburgh at some point in 2021 if the new management team thinks he can play shortstop at the big league level. As for redraft leagues, he's a potential waiver wire target if things start to click for him and he gets the call.
