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

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz is getting the day off on Tuesday against the New York Mets. In his absence, Alika Williams will get the nod at shortstop and will hit in the nine-hole against Mets veteran left-hander Jose Quintana. Cruz will get a little breather against the left-handed hurler after going hitless in his last nine at-bats with seven strikeouts in the last two contests. The 25-year-old Dominican is now hitting .232 (16-for-69) on the year with three home runs, six RBI, one steal and eight runs scored in his first 17 games of 2024. Williams, 25, lacks power and will be a low-upside deep sleeper pick for DFS lineups on Tuesday night. He's hit just .212 (25-for-118) with no homers and eight RBI in 51 MLB games to date going back to last season.

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz is getting a breather on Tuesday as the team takes on the visiting Detroit Tigers. With Cruz starting on the bench, Alika Williams will man shortstop for the Bucs and bat ninth in the order against Tigers right-hander Casey Mize, with infielder Jared Triolo in the leadoff spot. This will be the 25-year-old Cruz's second day off of the 2024 season. Cruz is a must-start fantasy asset anytime he's in the lineup, and he's off to a good start this year after missing most of last year due to an ankle injury. In his first 11 games, Cruz is batting .304 (14-for-46) with two home runs, a double, four RBI, a stolen base and seven runs scored in 49 plate appearances. Triolo will be worth a look as a low-cost DFS sleeper in the leadoff spot with Cruz out on Tuesday.

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz launched his second home run of the season in Friday's 5-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, adding two singles in the defeat. Cruz's long ball was a 395-foot missile to deep right center to get Pittsburgh on the board in the fifth inning. Now slashing .344/.382/.531 with two homers and three RBI over 32 at-bats this year, the towering 25-year-old infielder continues to flash the intrigue that makes him such an exciting fantasy prospect. Cruz slashed .261/.333/.739 with seven big flies and 14 RBI during 46 spring training ABs, and that momentum appears to be carrying over into the regular season. The lefty-hitting Cruz gets two more right-handers on Saturday and Sunday in this series with the O's, hitting a stratospheric .429 (9-for-21) and with both of his bombs coming against righties this season.

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz is starting at shortstop and is hitting seventh in the batting order on Monday against the Washington Nationals and left-hander MacKenzie Gore. Cruz got a day off on Sunday and hasn't hit higher than sixth in the team's batting order so far in 2024, which isn't what fantasy managers want to see. In the early going, Cruz has gone 5-for-16 with a home run and two RBI. While he remains one of the most impressive young shortstops in the game, his fantasy value will be limited by a lack of RBI opportunities if he continues to hit near the bottom of Pittsburgh's batting order all year long. Now that he's back in the lineup for the start of the series against Washington, fantasy managers in single-year leagues need to get him back in their lineups.

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz and catcher/outfielder Henry Davis will start on the bench for Sunday's series finale versus the Miami Marlins. Alika Williams is playing the 6 and batting eighth, while Jason Delay will do the catching for Pittsburgh while hitting in the nine-hole. Neither Williams nor Delay will be particularly attractive DFS sleepers on Sunday against Marlins left-hander Trevor Rogers. Cruz went 5-for-14 with a home run, two RBI and three runs scored in the first three games of the season before getting his first day off. The 25-year-old missed most of last year due to a fractured ankle but is one of the bright young ascending talents in the game at the shortstop position. Davis started behind the dish for the Bucs for each of their first three games, going 2-for-12 with a run scored and three walks.