Cruz went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Monday's 3-2 win over the Marlins.
Cruz took Valente Bellozo deep to center in the first inning for his 19th blast of the season, which came off his bat at 113.7 mph. It was Cruz's first homer since August ninth, ending a career-long streak of 26 games without a home run. Cruz hit his sixth home run of 440 feet or more this season, which is tied for the third most in MLB. The 25-year-old has an average home run distance of 421.3 feet this season, trailing only Jorge Soler among players with 10 or more homers.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Out of Sunday's lineup
Rotowire
Cruz is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Nationals, Kevin Gorman of TribLive.com reports.
Cruz will head to the bench after a run of 22 straight starts, during which he batted .313 with nine extra-base hits, nine steals, 10 RBI and nine runs. Michael Taylor is receiving a look in center field for the series finale versus Washington.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Swipes 20th bag
Rotowire
Cruz went 0-for-4 with a stolen base Sunday against the Guardians.
Cruz reached base on a fielder's choice in the seventh inning and took advantage by swiping his 20th base of the season. He's gotten particularly aggressive on the basepaths in the last three weeks, as eight of his stolen bases have come in his last 17 games. Cruz needs two long balls to reach a 20-20 season in his first full slate of games in the majors.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Starting at DH
Rotowire
Cruz (ankle) will serve as the designated hitter and bat second in Saturday's game against the Mariners.
Cruz injured his left ankle while turning towards third base in the seventh inning of Friday's game against Seattle. The injury won't keep him out of Saturday's contest, though he'll avoid fielding duties while Isiah Kiner-Falefa gets the start at shortstop.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Homers in three-hit game
Rotowire
Cruz went 3-for-5 with a solo home run, a double and an additional RBI in Friday's 9-5 loss to the Dodgers.
Cruz came up a triple shy of the cycle, logging his second three-hit game in a row since returning from an illness. The shortstop has gone 12-for-24 (.500) with three extra-base hits over six contests in August. Cruz is up to a .262/.315/.473 slash line with a career-high 18 homers, 59 RBI, 54 runs scored, 24 doubles and 11 stolen bases over 103 games this season.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Sitting again Wednesday
Rotowire
Cruz (illness) is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Padres, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribunereports.
The 25-year-old was held out of Tuesday's starting nine due to an illness and will sit for a second straight game Wednesday. Isiah Kiner-Falefa will receive another look at shortstop while Jared Triolo starts at second base with Cruz under the weather.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Taking seat Tuesday
Rotowire
Cruz is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Padres.
Cruz will sit Tuesday after a stretch of 17 straight starts, during which he had a .290/.333/.551 slash line with seven doubles, three homers, four steals, 15 RBI and 11 runs. Isiah Kiner-Falefa will shift to shortstop while Jared Triolo starts at second base.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Swipes two bags in win
Rotowire
Cruz went 1-for-3 with a walk, an RBI and two stolen bases in Monday's win against the Cardinals.
Cruz logged his first multi-steal game of the season, nabbing second base in both the first and third innings off Cardinals starter Andre Pallante. The shortstop hasn't been very active on the basepaths this season but he is now 9-for-10 in stolen base attempts. The 25-year-old has had a highly productive July, batting .321 with three home runs, 14 RBI, eight runs scored, and three steals across 14 games played.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Stays hot in Saturday's win
Rotowire
Cruz went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and three RBI in Saturday's 4-1 win over the Phillies.
The young shortstop carried the Pirates' offense, with his two-run homer in the eighth inning off Matt Strahm giving his club some valuable insurance. Cruz has collected multiple hits in three straight games and has driven in at least one run in four straight, and he's slashing .348/.380/.652 through 50 plate appearances in July with five doubles, three homers, a steal, eight runs and 14 RBI. Cruz also has a 2:16 BB:K on the month, but as long as he's crushing the ball when he does make contact, he'll be a valuable fantasy asset.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Sitting down Tuesday
Rotowire
Cruz (hamstring) isn't in the Pirates' lineup for Tuesday's game against the Brewers, Kevin Gorman of TribLive.com reports.
Cruz made an early exit from Monday's game against the Mets due to hamstring tightness, and he'll now miss a start Tuesday as a result of the injury. Jared Triolo will fill in at shortstop and bat eighth.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Tending to hamstring injury
Rotowire
Pirates manager Derek Shelton disclosed that Cruz was removed from Monday's 8-2 win over the Mets in the bottom of the eighth inning due to his hamstring tightening up when he rounded the bases in the sixth inning, Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Cruz went 2-for-3 with a two-run home run -- his 14th of the season -- and an additional run scored before exiting the contest. After reaching on a base hit in his final at-bat in the bottom of the sixth, Cruz apparently tweaked his hamstring either while advancing to second on Rowdy Tellez's infield single or while coming around to score on Nick Gonzales' double. Cruz played the next two innings in the field before he was replaced when his next turn in the batting order came up in the eighth, due to what Shelton said was out of an "abundance of caution." Based on Shelton's comments, Cruz might have been dealing with cramping rather than a hamstring strain, but fantasy managers will still want to keep close tabs on the shortstop's status heading into Tuesday's series opener in Milwaukee.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Slugs 14th homer
Rotowire
Cruz went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer and an additional run scored in Monday's 8-2 win versus the Mets.
The Pittsburgh shortstop smashed a 431-foot, two-run blast off Christian Scott in the fourth inning to open the game's scoring. It marked Cruz's second homer of July, as he's batting .333 (8-for-24) with four runs scored and five RBI across seven games this month so far. Overall, the 25-year-old is slashing .247/.303/.444 with 40 runs scored and 41 RBI in 330 total plate appearances.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Picks up seventh steal
Rotowire
Cruz went 1-for-4 with a stolen base and a strikeouts in a 3-2 loss to the Cardinals on Thursday.
Cruz reached base on a single in the first and proceeded to steal second but failed to score. Cruz doesn't run often, but he's successful when he does, as he's only been caught stealing once in 12 attempts since the beginning of 2023. The 25-year-old is slashing .240/.294/.425 with 12 homers, 37 RBI, and seven steals this season.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: On bench against lefty
Rotowire
Cruz isn't in the Pirates' lineup for Saturday's game versus Atlanta.
Cruz and his .351 OPS against left-handed pitchers will retreat to the dugout Saturday as the Pirates prepare to face southpaw Max Fried. Jared Triolo will fill in as Pittsburgh's shortstop and bat seventh.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Goes deep in loss
Rotowire
Cruz went 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBI in Monday's loss to the Reds.
Cruz drove in one run in the fifth inning before capping off his night with a two-run blast in the seventh. It was his 11th home run of the year, with four of those coming this month. He was stuck in a 2-for-19 skid (.105) over his previous six games since his last multi-hit performance June 16. Cruz now owns a .243/.296/.433 slash line with 34 RBI and 27 extra-base hits through 284 plate appearances.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Makes splash in Saturday's win
Rotowire
Cruz went 1-for-3 with a walk, a solo home run and a second run scored in Saturday's 4-3 win over the Rays.
He destroyed the first pitch he saw from Zach Eflin in the first inning, sending the 78.2 mph curveball out of the stadium to right field and straight into the Allegheny River. Per Adam Berry and Justice delos Santos of MLB.com, it's just the sixth time since PNC Park opened that a ball has been hit into the river on the fly. Despite his prodigious physical tools, Cruz is still having trouble producing consistently for the Pirates, but he has stepped things up this month. Through 16 games in June, the 25-year-old is slashing .250/.283/.464 with three homers, one steal, 11 runs and 11 RBI.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Out versus southpaw
Rotowire
Cruz is not in the lineup for Tuesday's contest versus the Reds.
The left-handed hitting Cruz will begin this one on the bench as the Reds send southpaw Nick Lodolo to the hill. Jared Triolo is getting the start at shortstop for the Pirates.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Two hits in return
Rotowire
Cruz went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI on Sunday against the Rockies.
Cruz returned from a two-game absence caused by ankle soreness but showed no ill effects. He has five multi-hit performances across 11 games in June while maintaining a .300 average with eight RBI and eight runs scored.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Still out Saturday
Rotowire
Cruz (ankle) isn't in the starting lineup for Saturday's game against Colorado.
Cruz was a late scratch from Friday's lineup with left ankle soreness and will take a seat once again Saturday. Jared Triolo will draw another start at shortstop and bat eighth for the Pirates.
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Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Scratched Friday
Rotowire
Cruz was scratched from the Pirates' lineup ahead of Friday's game versus Colorado due to left ankle soreness, Kevin Gorman of TribLive.com reports.
The 25-year-old was initially slated to start at shortstop, but it will instead be Jared Triolo making his first career start at short. Cruz will get some time to recover from a tweaked ankle he suffered during Thursday's contest.
