Oneil Cruz Stats
- Height / Weight
- 6' 7" / 210 lbs.
- Date of Birth (Age)
- 10/4/1998 (23)
- Experience
- 0
- College
- None
Oneil Cruz Season Stats
Last 10 Games
Oneil Cruz News
Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop prospect Oneil Cruz continues to have baseball fans everywhere question why he didn't break camp with the squad to open the 2022 season. Cruz, 23, is one of the top prospects at his position and continued to add to his early season success with a 2-for-3 performance that featured a double and triple in Wednesday's victory for the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians. With the strong showing, Cruz is now hitting .300 with six runs, two RBI and a pair of stolen bases in just six games. The big left-hander provides plenty of pop to his bat and improved on his plate discipline this past season. That allowed him to hit a career best .310 in 2021 between Double-A and Triple-A with 17 home runs and 19 stolen bases. Shortstop may ultimately not be his main position with his tall frame, but the Pirates are running out of excuses to not promote the youngster. Cruz should be up sooner than later for the Pirates and is worth rostering in all formats when that happens.
The Pittsburgh Pirates optioned shortstop prospect Oneil Cruz to Triple-A Indianapolis on Tuesday and also reassigned left-hander Cam Alldred and right-hander Beau Sulser to minor league camp. Cruz was swinging the bat well in the Grapefruit League, but the team's No. 3 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, will begin the 2022 season in the minors. The 23-year-old made it up to the big leagues for two games last year and has only played six games at Triple-A, so it wouldn't hurt for him to get a bit more seasoning on the farm. Barring an injury, Cruz should be back in the majors sooner than later and could see most of the playing time down the stretch over Kevin Newman and Cole Tucker.
Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton said that shortstop prospect Oneil Cruz will soon play some outfield in camp, starting with left field. "The fact that PNC plays so big, you'll probably see him in left field first because of how athletic he is. But I think he's athletic enough that he can play any of the three," Shelton said. Cruz has been swinging it early in spring training, but he could still open the season at Triple-A. Outfield eligibility could make him even more intriguing, but the 23-year-old is still likely to see most of his playing time at the 6. Kevin Newman and Cole Tucker could begin the season splitting time for the Pirates at shortstop, but Cruz is easily the most attractive fantasy player of the trio in redraft leagues in 2022.
Oneil Cruz Stats
Last 10 Games
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.
