Biography
Oneil Cruz (born October 4, 1998) is a Dominican professional baseball center fielder and shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2021.
Career
Los Angeles Dodgers
Cruz signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in July 2015 as an international free agent for a $950,000 signing bonus. Cruz made his professional debut in 2016 with DSL Dodgers 1, batting .294 with 23 runs batted in (RBI) in 55 games. He began the 2017 season with the Great Lakes Loons.
Pittsburgh Pirates
On July 31, 2017, the Dodgers traded Cruz and Angel German to the Pirates in exchange for Tony Watson. He was then assigned to the West Virginia Power. In 105 games between the two clubs, he slashed .237/.297/.350 with 10 home runs and 44 RBI.
In 2018, he played for the West Virginia Power, batting .286 with 14 home runs and 56 RBI in 103 games, earning South Atlantic League All-Star honors.
Cruz began 2019 at High–A level with the Bradenton Marauders, before suffering a right foot fracture on April 27. After missing two months due to the fractured foot, Cruz was assigned to the rookie-level Gulf Coast League Pirates on June 24. On July 28, Cruz was promoted to the Double-A Altoona Curve. He hit .298 in 73 games for the 2019 season across the three teams.
On November 20, 2019, the Pirates added Cruz to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the Minor League Baseball season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Cruz split the 2021 minor league season between Altoona and the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians, hitting a combined .310/.375/.594 with 17 home runs, 47 RBI, and 19 stolen bases.
On October 2, 2021, Cruz was promoted to the active roster for the first time to make his MLB debut. He appeared in two Major League games in the 2021 season and hit his first career home run on October 3 in Pittsburgh.
Cruz did not make the team out of spring training in 2022, and was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis to begin the year. He was recalled to make his season debut on June 20 against the Chicago Cubs, where he collected two hits, two runs, and four RBIs. On August 24, 2022, Cruz hit the hardest-hit ball since the advent of Statcast against Atlanta Braves pitcher Kyle Wright. The ball was recorded at 122.4 miles per hour (197.0 km/h).
On April 10, 2023, Cruz fractured his left fibula while sliding into home plate, which was blocked by White Sox catcher Seby Zavala while Cruz was attempting to score from third base on a ground ball. He was expected to miss four months, but after multiple setbacks, he was ruled out for the entire season.
On August 26, 2024, manager Derek Shelton announced that Cruz would be moving to center field for the foreseeable future.
In 2024, Cruz batted .259/.324/.449 with 21 home runs, 76 RBIs, and 22 stolen bases, and had the highest maximum exit velocity in MLB, at 121.5 mph.
Cruz hit his first career grand slam on April 16, 2025 against the Washington Nationals in a 6-1 victory.
Personal life
Cruz is the son of retired minor leaguer Rafael Cruz. The elder Cruz named his son after his favorite player, former New York Yankees outfielder Paul O'Neill.
On September 22, 2020, Cruz was involved in a deadly vehicle crash in the Dominican Republic in which three people were killed. The accident occurred when his Jeep collided with a motorcycle carrying the three deceased that was traveling with no lights in the same direction that Cruz was traveling. Cruz survived the fatal accident without serious injury.
Cruz is unusually tall for a shortstop. He is listed as 6 feet 7 inches (2.01 m) and 215 pounds (98 kg). The only other major league player to make an appearance at shortstop as tall was 6-foot-7-inch (2.01 m) Joel Guzmán, who played nine innings for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2007. There have been four 6-foot-5-inch (1.96 m) major leaguers who started some games at shortstop — Archi Cianfrocco, Elly De La Cruz, Troy Glaus, and Michael Morse.