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Cruz

Cruz was eligible for arbitration for the first time after hitting a disappointing .200/.298/.378 last season. He hasn’t been mentioned in trade rumors, so all signs point to him remaining the Pirates’ center fielder. It’ll be interesting to see if he’s given another chance to play full-time after finishing last year as a platoon player. He’s likely to hit in the bottom half of the order, too, so his fantasy stock is well down from last year.

Cruz returned to Pittsburgh’s lineup for Saturday’s showdown at Truist Park following a two-game absence due to left ankle discomfort. The 26-year-old will close out the season just shy of a 20-40 campaign with a pedestrian 200/.298/.379 slash line with 62 runs scored, 20 homers, 61 RBI and 38 stolen bases in 134 games. There’s obviously some room for improvement in the plate skills department, but Cruz remains one of the more potent power/speed combo outfielders in the fantasy landscape.

Cruz has been on the bench for back-to-back contests since exiting the late stages of Wednesday’s showdown against the Reds with left ankle discomfort. There’s no reason for Pittsburgh to push him with two games left in the season, but it doesn’t appear he’s dealing with anything serious that would impact his offseason preparation for spring training.

Cruz appears to have avoided serious injury after slamming into the center-field wall while attempting to rob Noelvi Marte of an extra-base hit. He’ll likely be sent for some additional imaging to rule out any structural damage.

Cruz had been stuck on 19 homers since Aug. 30 as he finishes out the season as a platoon player. It will be interesting to see if he gets shopped this winter. The Pirates’ usage of him suggests they’re not particularly high on his future at this point, but we imagine there are plenty of teams out there that would like to take on his upside.

Cruz has been moved up to the top of the lineup card ahead of Jared Triolo for the first time since coming off the injured list back in late August. The 26-year-old center fielder has been relegated to a platoon role of late with the Pirates choosing to give Alexander Canario and Jack Suwinski opportunities in the outfield.

Cruz has now entered a full-on platoon role with the Pirates choosing not to play him at all against left-handed pitchers. It’s hard to blame them since Cruz is hitting .173/.248/.315 against lefties in 399 career plate appearances. Still, this is a tough reality for fantasy managers heading into 2026 because Cruz will come into that season with batting average concerns and a potential cap of around 550 plate appearances. Alexander Canario is in the lineup in centerfield on Wednesday.

It’s a bit surprising to see Cruz take a seat against a right-handed starter in Jameson Taillon. The 26-year-old power/speed combo outfielder has headed to the bench against an assortment of southpaws recently, but the Pirates appear poised to give Jack Suwinski some opportunities in center field over the final two weeks of the season.

With the Orioles starting left-hander Cade Povich, the Pirates will put Cruz and Spencer Horwitz on the bench while also giving a day off to Henry Davis and Cam Devanney. Joey Bart, Liover Peguero, Nick Yorke, and Alexander Canario will enter the starting lineup. Cruz is hitting just .200 on the season, but also has a .105/.233/.181 slash line against lefties, so there’s a strong argument that he should simply be a strong side platoon bat. That should drastically impact his fantasy value in 2026.

Cruz drove in one of the two runs the Pirates were able to muster up against Brewers’ starter Quinn Priester with a single and he swiped second immediately after. That steal gave him 37 on the season, good for third-most in the league. That’s a relief too because those stolen bases have somewhat saved his fantasy value in spite of a .205 batting average.