Oneil Cruz's Stats, Metrics, Game Logs, Projections & Rankings

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz is taking the day off at Petco Park on Wednesday in the series finale against the hosting San Diego Padres. Cruz will be replaced at shortstop by Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who is batting leadoff against veteran left-hander Martin Perez. Although he's hit only one home run in 10 August games, Cruz is batting .395 (15-for-38) during the month and has added three doubles, five RBI and three stolen bases in the month. The 6-foot-7, 215-pound Dominican has one of the fastest bat speeds in the big leagues and is a must-start in fantasy lineups when he's active. Kiner-Falefa has hit .238 (10-for-42) with two doubles and two triples in 10 games since joining the Bucs at the trade deadline and will be an interesting DFS play in the leadoff spot. He's hit .286 against Perez in seven career at-bats.

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz (illness) is back at shortstop and is batting in the three-hole for the Bucs in Thursday's series finale against the visiting San Diego Padres and right-hander Randy Vasquez. Cruz was out of the starting lineup for the first two games of the series against SD while being under the weather, but he came off the bench late in Wednesday's 9-8 extra-inning loss and is feeling good enough to start on Thursday at PNC Park. Fantasy managers will want to get the 25-year-old back in all starting lineups, especially since he's been hot offensively since the All-Star break. In 16 games since the Midsummer Classic, the Dominican infielder has gone 18-for-62 (.290) with three home runs, six doubles, a triple, 12 RBI, four stolen bases and 11 runs scored in 68 plate appearances.

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz (illness) is out of the starting lineup ahead of Wednesday's game against the San Diego Padres. This marks the second game in a row that Cruz has missed due to a lingering illness. The hope is that this is a minor issue, so for now fantasy managers should consider Cruz as day-to-day. In his absence, Isiah Kiner-Falefa will bat third and play shortstop versus right-hander Michael King. Fantasy managers should adjust their lineups ahead of first pitch.

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz (illness) was sick and unavailable to play in the series-opening loss to the visiting San Diego Padres on Tuesday, according to manager Derek Shelton. With Cruz not feeling well, there's a chance he could miss a second straight game against the Padres on Wednesday, so fantasy managers need to be on the lookout before putting the 25-year-old back into their starting lineups. Cruz missed his first game of the second half of the season on Tuesday. Since the All-Star break, he's been hot offensively, slashing .300/.354/.583 with three home runs and 12 RBI in 15 games, so if he returns on Wednesday, get him back into your lineups immediately. With Cruz out on Tuesday, the recently acquired Isiah Kiner-Falefa got the start at the 6 for the Bucs and went 1-for-4 with a strikeout in the 6-0 loss.

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz will head to the bench on Tuesday for the series opener against the visiting San Diego Padres. With Cruz getting a day off, Isiah Kiner-Falefa will draw the start at the 6 in Pittsburgh and will bat fifth against Padres right-hander Dylan Cease. The 25-year-old Cruz will get a breather after starting 17 straight games for the Bucs. Since the All-Star break, Cruz has hit an even .300 (18-for-60) with three home runs, six doubles, a triple, 12 RBI, five walks, 23 strikeouts and four stolen bases in 15 games played. He's already played in a career-high 100 games and has matched his career-high with 17 homers while posting a career-high 11 thefts. Kiner-Falefa, who was acquired from the Blue Jays at last week's trade deadline, has gone 2-for-8 with a double, triple and two RBI in his first two games in Pittsburgh.