Fernando Cruz

Note: This page is for pitcher Fernando Cruz who made his major league debut in 2022; for others with the same name, click here.

Fernando E. Cruz

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 205 lb.
• High School Puerto Rico Advancement College
• Debut September 2, 2022

• Born March 28, 1990 in Bayamon P.R.

BR page

Biographical Information

Fernando Cruz played in the minors for several years as an infielder then turned into a pitcher and reached the majors at the age of 32.

Cruz was taken by the Kansas City Royals in the 6th round of the 2007 amateur draft, after being scouted by Johnny Ramos. He had a rough pro debut with the AZL Royals that summer, hitting .210/.254/.265 and fielding .875 at 3B. With the 2008 Burlington Royals, he improved his hitting to .237/.260/.283 (though he had 43 K to 3 BB) and his fielding at the hot corner to .911. He was 1 for 4 that winter for the Leones de Ponce. In '09, he moved to catcher, fielding .995 and throwing out 31% of would-be base thieves though he had 10 passed balls. His hitting continued to progress (.277/.308/.394). He was 2 for 8 for Ponce in 2009-2010. In the summer of 2010, he was back at third mostly, fielding .914 for Burlington. He hit .221/.265/.271 and tied for 3rd in the Midwest League with 17 double-play grounders. He batted .231/.231/.269 that winter for the Indios de Mayagüez. He started 2011 slowly with the Kane County Cougars (.227/.244/.227).

Kansas City then converted him to pitching. The transition was rocky at first with the AZL Royals later that summer (2-3, Sv, 7.99 in 17 G). He was 1-0 with a shutout inning for the 2011-2012 Indios and 4-3 with 3 saves and a 6.88 ERA for the 2012 Idaho Falls Chukars despite over a K per IP. He was 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA and 2.00 WHIP for the Indios. The Royals let him go but his pitching kept getting better. He was 1-0 with a 4.02 ERA for Ponce in 2013-2014. With the 2014-2015 Santurce Crabbers, he was 2-1 with a 1.52 ERA and .93 WHIP, showing how far he had come. That won him a second chance in the US minors as the Chicago Cubs signed him. He split the summer between the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (1-2, 2 Sv, 3.78 in 15 G), Tennessee Smokies (2-1, Sv, 5.46 in 16 G) and Iowa Cubs (0-1, 10 H, 10 R in 4 IP). Back with Santurce in the winter, he had a miniscule 1.01 ERA and no decisions or saves in 21 games. He tied Fernando Cabrera and Chris Smith for 4th in the Puerto Rican League in games pitched (21). In the 2016 Caribbean Series, he had a 6.75 ERA but got a win over the Leones del Escogido in a 14-inning game.

A free agent again, he was 6-3 with 12 saves and a 2.63 ERA for the New Jersey Jackals in 2016, whiffing 79 in 72 innings. He was 5th in the Canadian-American Association in saves. With the 2016-17 Crabbers, he was again a fine reliever (3-1, 2.22 in 22 G). He tied for 8th in the Puerto Rican League in wins and only J.C. Romero pitched more games. He was 4-2 with a 2.82 ERA for the Jackals in 2017, striking out 55 and walking only 11 in 51 innings. With Santurce, he saw limited action (1-1, 2.37). He was 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA as a reinforcement for the Criollos de Caguas when they won the 2018 Caribbean Series. He got his win over the Caribes de Anzoátegui. He tied for third in the Series with 3 games pitched, one behind Wirfin Obispo and Robby Rowland.

He then pitched for the Puerto Rican national team in the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games, saving Luis Cintrón's win over the 2010 champion Dominican national team. He only pitched in winter ball in 2019, then was again out of the minor leagues in 2020 when they were shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic and was in the Mexican League with the Mariachis de Guadalajara in 2021, going 4-1, 2.73 in 26 games as a reliever. He was already 31 at this point and it looked like any possibility of his ever pitching in the majors was off the table, even though he was doing well wherever he was given a chance to pitch. But miracles do happen.

He signed with the Cincinnati Reds for the 2022 season and he was sent to the AAA Louisville Bats to start the season. he had a good year in the International League, in his first taste of AAA since 2015 (not counting the Mexican League), going 4-4, 2.89 in 51 games as a reliever, recording 23 saves. The Reds called him up in early September and he had a great final month, pitching 14 times, including 2 starts (both of them as an opener in a bullpen game), logging 14 2/3 innings with an ERA of 1.23 and striking out 21 batters. After another solid performance in winter ball after the season, he had a 2.45 ERA for Puerto Rico in the 2023 World Baseball Classic and struck out 5 in 3 2/3 IP; only José De León had more Ks for their team.

He then spent almost all of 2023 as a member of the Reds' bullpen, with only 2 games in Louisville. His numbers were not as good as those he had posted the previous September, but he still made 58 appearances, logged 66 innings during which he struck out 98 batters, and finished at 1-2, 4.91. His maiden big league victory came in just his second appearance of the year, against the Chicago Cubs on April 3rd, when he pitched 1 1/3 scoreless inning in a 7-6 win. He went through a string of five consecutive appearances in which he gave up a run in late April, which earned him his brief sojourn in the minors and his ERA was 7.47 at the end of May, but he pitched quite well after that. His ERA was down to 4.29 on [September 26]]th, but a disastrous final outing in which he gave up 5 runs in 1 inning in a blowout loss against the St. Louis Cardinals in his final appearance on September 30th added more than half a run to his season's ERA.

In 2024, he spent the entire season in Cincinnati and went 3-8, 4.86 in 69 games. He had a bad stretch in early May when he was charged with 4 losses in 8 appearances, but it also reflected that he was used in more meaningful game situations: for example, he recorded 22 holds by the end of July, before being pushed down the bullpen ladder. He had a stretch of three consecutive starts in late August and early September, totaling 6 innings of work, but otherwise was used as a middle reliever over the final two months, not recording a single decision over that stretch and getting just one more hold. He continued to post excellent strikeout numbers, with 109 over his 66 2/3 innings. On December 20th that year, he was traded to the New York Yankees along with catcher Alex Jackson, in return for another catcher, Jose Trevino.

Further Reading

• Mark Sheldon: "15 years after Draft, Cruz K's 2 in MLB debut", mlb.com, September 2, 2022. [1]

Related Sites

• Fernando Cruz on mlb.com
• BR Register page