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Shortstop: Oneil Cruz
Oneil Cruz has had an up-and-down 2024 but still owns a solid .247/.303/.444 triple-slash on the year. Of course, he's hit for good power with a .197 isolated slugging percentage and 14 homers in 330 plate appearances. His strikeout rate (32.4%) and his walk rate (7.3%) aren't overly impressive, but Cruz's 106 wRC+ is still above average. Plus, he has a lot more to show than what the surface numbers say.
He has the third-best barrel rate in baseball, only surpassed by Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani. Cruz has the fifth-biggest difference between wOBA and xwOBA among shortstops with a .352 xwOBA. His .272 xBA and .510 xSLG% both indicate there's the potential for a massive second-half breakout for the towering shortstop. Plus, he may have been starting to figure something out before he got dinged up.
Prior to Cruz's injury, he was on a hot streak, batting .269/.356/.577 with five homers in his last 59 plate appearances. Cruz had walked in just over 10% of those PAs with a 10.2% BB%, but also cut his K% down to 30.5%. Cruz's isolated slugging percentage during this hot streak sat above .300 at .305.
Defensively, he hasn't been as bad as some might make him out to be. He has zero outs above average and -5 DRS. Cruz covers plenty of ground at shortstop with his 88th percentile sprint speed, and can make any throw, as he's in the 99th percentile of arm strength. He's been key to the infield defense, as he takes almost all relay throws from the outfield to gun down guys trying to take an extra base.
A second-half breakout for Cruz could be huge for this offense. We know what he is capable of when he gets hot. As long as he can remain average defensively up the middle, he'll be an extremely valuable part of the Pirates' lineup as we head down the stretch.