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 (ankle) suffered what is believed to be a mild ankle injury while playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic, according to sources. Cruz will be out at least through the weekend as he undergoes further testing. Because it's expected to be a minor ankle injury, Cruz should be just fine heading into spring training and the 2023 regular season. The 6-foot-7, 220-pound shortstop just wrapped up his first full season in the major leagues with the Pirates and finished with a .233/.294/.450 slash line, a .744 OPS, 17 home runs, 54 RBI, 45 runs scored and 10 stolen bases in 361 plate appearances and 87 games. If the 24-year-old can continue to limit the strikeouts, he will continue to be one of the most exciting young players in baseball at a premium position.
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.
Batting Order
| 1 | Kevin Newman |
| 2 | Rodolfo Castro |
| 3 | Ke'Bryan Hayes |
| 4 | Miguel Andújar |
| 5 | Oneil Cruz |
| 6 | Diego Castillo |
| 7 | Jack Suwinski |
| 8 | Jason Delay |
| 9 | Ji Hwan Bae |
Oneil Cruz Stats
Last 10 Games
Batting Order
| 1 | Kevin Newman |
| 2 | Rodolfo Castro |
| 3 | Ke'Bryan Hayes |
| 4 | Miguel Andújar |
| 5 | Oneil Cruz |
| 6 | Diego Castillo |
| 7 | Jack Suwinski |
| 8 | Jason Delay |
| 9 | Ji Hwan Bae |
Cruz has more launch velocity highlights than actual Major League success in his young career, but we can find plenty of positives from what he did in 2022. He hit 17 homers in 361 plate appearances for a great home run rate of 21.2 PA/HR, and he swiped 11 bags. That extrapolates to an easy 30-20 season for the big man, which is very useful for the roto leagues. The problem, of course, is the massive strikeout rate (34.9%) which keeps his batting average quite low (.233 last year). The lineup around him doesn't do him any favors either, as the Pirates once again project to be a bottom-ten offense in the league. We can't really talk about Cruz without mentioning his game-breaking upside. No other hitter in the league have the absurd power and speed combination that he possesses. If he can bring the strikeout rate below 30%, he would probably hit .250 or so and would put up close to first-round production with the power and steals alone. He's a special talent, and could someday be a guy you take with the #1 overall pick in fantasy, but it's more likely that his strikeout rate and the offense around him keep him short of his #70 ADP in 2023.
