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

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz will be batting eighth in the lineup against Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery. While Cruz generally hits near the top of the lineup, the Pirates will sometimes put him near the bottom of the order when facing lefties. Fantasy managers shouldn't freak out about his drop in the lineup, but DFS managers may want to take note with Cruz slated to get fewer chances at the plate tonight. While the lefty has hit for a solid 118 OPS+ on the season, his production drops off a cliff when facing lefties. He hits for a .550 OPS against southpaws compared to an .857 OPS against righties. Fantasy managers should temper expectations for the 25-year-old tonight and DFS players would be wise to avoid including Cruz in their lineups.

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz went a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate in Friday's 9-8 loss to the Diamondbacks, with one of his hits going for extra bases, a double in the first inning. The 25-year-old also drove in two runs, scored twice, and stole his 10th bag of the season. The Dominican is coming off his best month of the season so far, slashing .271/.323/.553 with five home runs, 18 RBI, and three stolen bases. He now owns a .257-17-56-51-10 line on the season with a .330 wOBA and 112 wRC+, putting him in the top 15 at the position for fantasy.

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz had a big game at the dish in Friday night's walk-off win over the crosstown-rival Philadelphia Phillies, collecting three hits and three RBI in the victory. Cruz lined two run-scoring doubles and an RBI single on Friday against the Phillies, but it was a fielder's choice to send Michael A. Taylor home and tie the game at 7-7 in the ninth inning that set up Nick Gonzales' game-ending knock off Phillies closer Jose Alvarado in the following at-bat. The 25-year-old former top prospect is enjoying a productive month of July, hitting .356 (16-for-45) with three home runs, four two-baggers, 13 RBI, and one stolen base across his latest 12 contests since June 30.

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz is out of the team's starting lineup on Friday for the series opener against the hosting Chicago White Sox. Cruz returned to Thursday's lineup after missing the previous two contests with hamstring soreness, but he'll sit out again to begin a new series in Chicago on Friday. It remains to be seen if the 25-year-old aggravated his hamstring or if the Pirates are just giving him extra rest before next week's All-Star break. Either way, fantasy managers need to remove him from their lineups. The 6-foot-7, 215-pounder is on pace to set career-highs across the board in 2024 after never appearing in more than 87 big-league games the last three seasons. Jared Triolo is starting at the 6 on Friday and is batting seventh against White Sox All-Star left-hander Garrett Crochet. Avoid Triolo as a sleeper in DFS.

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz (hamstring) is back in the team's starting lineup for Thursday's series finale against the division-rival Milwaukee Brewers, playing shortstop and batting third against Brewers right-hander Aaron Civale. Fantasy managers will want to get Cruz back into their starting lineups. The 25-year-old was pulled early from Monday's game with hamstring soreness and missed each of the last two games as a precaution. The 6-foot-7, 215-pound Dominican shortstop has one of the fastest swings in baseball and has gone 8-for-24 (.333) with two long balls, a double, five RBI, a stolen base and four runs in seven games to begin the month of July. Through 82 games in 2024, Cruz is just three home runs shy of tying his career-high of 17 round-trippers, which he set in 2022 in 87 games.