Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop/outfielder Oneil Cruz (ankle) remains out of the team's starting lineup on Tuesday at Busch Stadium against the division-rival St. Louis Cardinals. Michael Taylor will man center field for the Bucs and will hit ninth against Cardinals right-handed veteran Lance Lynn. Cruz left Sunday's contest against the Kansas City Royals early with soreness in his left ankle and has missed the last two games as a result. For now, fantasy managers can continue to consider the 25-year-old day-to-day. The Pirates recently made the move to put Cruz in center field full time, which has allowed Nick Gonzalez to shift over to shortstop and the Bucs to recall infield prospect Nick Yorke. Taylor won't be very attractive as a DFS sleeper in the nine-hole, but he is hitting .294 in his career with an .804 OPS, a home run and an RBI in 17 career at-bats against Lynn.

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz (ankle) is out of the starting lineup ahead of Monday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals. This comes as little surprise after Cruz was forced to exit early during Sunday's game due to an ankle issue. It's the same ankle that Cruz fractured last season, so the Pirates aren't taking any chances. For now, Cruz is considered as day-to-day, so hopefully he'll be back in the lineup later this week. In the meantime, Billy Cook will cover center field and bat ninth versus right-hander Andre Pallante. Cook has been quiet with the bat during his brief time in the MLB and can be avoided as a streaming option.

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz (ankle) left early during Sunday's game against the Kansas City Royals. Cruz left the game after slipping in the outfield, but is considered as day-to-day. Manager Derek Shelton said Cruz was pulled for precautionary reasons and is dealing with ankle discomfort. This sounds like a day-to-day type of issue that shouldn't require a trip to the injured list. Cruz is still getting comfortable with his new spot in the outfield, but the Pirates want to see him out there long term. Michael A. Taylor replaced Cruz in center field on Sunday. Taylor will likely see more time out there until Cruz is back, but he doesn't offer much value with his .190 batting average.

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz is making his first career start in center field and will bat third on Wednesday against the division-rival Chicago Cubs and right-hander Kyle Hendricks at PNC Park. With Cruz in the outfield, Isiah Kiner-Falefa is at short and batting leadoff. The Pirates mentioned earlier this week that they were going to ease Cruz into center-field duties earlier this week, with this being the first start of his professional career in that spot. Pittsburgh will roll with Kiner-Falefa and Nick Gonzales up the middle the rest of the way. On days Cruz doesn't play in center, he will be the designated hitter. Already a must-start in all fantasy formats, Cruz's value will only go up with more positional flexibility heading into the 2025 season. In his career against Hendricks in five at-bats, he's hitting .200 with a homer and an RBI.

Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton announced during his pre-game press conference on Monday that shortstop Oneil Cruz will start seeing time in center field. The Pirates haven't released their starting lineup for Monday's contest against the division-rival Chicago Cubs at PNC Park, but fantasy managers should expect the change to take effect immediately. It means that Cruz's already high fantasy value will be further boosted when he eventually gains outfield eligibility. With Cruz moving to center field, the Bucs plan to use Isiah Kiner-Falefa as their starting shortstop and Nick Gonzales as their starting second baseman the rest of the way in 2024. The 25-year-old Cruz has never played in a professional game in center field before. If the Pirates choose to ease Cruz into his new position, on days he's not in center field, he's expected to serve as the designated hitter.

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz (ankle) is back in the starting lineup on Saturday against the Seattle Mariners at PNC Park, serving as the designated hitter and batting second against Mariners right-hander Luis Castillo. Isiah Kiner-Falefa will start at the 6 and bat leadoff for the Bucs. Fantasy managers have to be thrilled that Cruz is back in action after he was pulled early in Friday's series-opening win over the M's when he tweaked his left ankle running the bases in the seventh inning. The 25-year-old's injury obviously wasn't very serious, and he should remain in starting fantasy lineups everywhere. The Dominican shortstop has been excellent since the All-Star break and even better in August, going 16-for-42 (.381) with a homer, four doubles, seven RBI and three stolen bases in 11 games. Cruz has never faced Castillo in his career.

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz (ankle) was removed from Friday night's win early over the Seattle Mariners at PNC Park due to left-ankle discomfort. Cruz is currently being examined and treated by the medical staff. The 25-year-old appeared to tweak his ankle after hitting a double in the seventh inning. Isiah Kiner-Falefa replaced him at shortstop, with Jared Triolo entering the game at second base. Before leaving, Cruz went 1-for-4 with the double, two RBI and a strikeout. Fantasy managers will want to check back for more information on Cruz, who should be considered day-to-day for now. If he's forced to miss extended time due to the ankle injury, Kiner-Falefa would likely become the team's everyday shortstop. Cruz is one of the best young shortstops in the game and entered Friday's contest with a career-high 18 homers, 59 RBI and 12 stolen bases in 107 games.

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.

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.

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz (hamstring) is out of the starting lineup again on Wednesday against the division-rival Milwaukee Brewers. Cruz will miss his second game in a row after leaving Monday's contest early with soreness in his hamstring. It doesn't appear to be a major concern for the 25-year-old, but the Pirates are giving him a little extra rest before next week's All-Star break. Cruz should be considered day-to-day for now. Check back to see if he's available for the series finale in Milwaukee on Thursday. Jared Triolo is getting another start at the 6 and will hit ninth for the Bucs against Brewers right-hander Tobias Myers. DFS managers should be able to find a much better option at shortstop than Triolo, who is hitting just .203 (47-for-232) on the year with four homers, 24 RBI and four stolen bases in a utility role.

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz (hamstring) will not make the start on Tuesday against the hosting division-rival Milwaukee Brewers after he was forced to leave Monday's series finale against the New York Mets early due to hamstring tightness. For now, fantasy managers should continue to regard Cruz as day-to-day. Jared Triolo will take over at the 6 on Tuesday and will bat eighth for the Bucs against Brewers right-hander Colin Rea. Triolo is hitting .125 in eight career at-bats against Rea and will be a low-upside deep sleeper for DFS lineups on Tuesday. The 25-year-old Cruz has gotten off to a good start in July, so hopefully his hamstring issue doesn't end up sending him to the injured list heading into the All-Star break. In seven games in July so far, he's gone 8-for-24 (.333) with two homers, a double, five RBI, one steal and four runs scored in 27 trips to the plate.

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz (hamstring) has been on a hot stretch at the plate over the last few weeks. On Monday, Cruz went 2-for-3 with a two-run home run in the win over the Mets. It's worth noting that Cruz was removed from the game after running the bases in the sixth inning. Pirates' manager Derek Shelton said Cruz was pulled out of the game as a precaution. It doesn't sound like Cruz is going to miss significant time from this issue. Fantasy managers should check back on Tuesday for another update.