Fernando De La Cruz

Fernando D. De La Cruz

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 225 lb.

• Born January 25, 1971 in La Romana, La Romana D.R.

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Fernando De La Cruz pitched in the USA, Japan, Taiwan, Dominican and Mexico over a period of more than 15 years.

De La Cruz began his professional career with the California Angels system, and he allowed 2 runs in 1 1/3 innings for the Boise Hawks in 1995. He was 6-3 with a 4.94 ERA in Boise in 1996, and his ERA was 8.00 in 6 starts for the Cedar Rapids Kernels. He also pitched 5 games for the Lake Elsinore Storm, but his ERA was 8.59. De La Cruz pitched for 3 levels again in 1997, and his ERA was 11.48 in 10 games for the Kernels and 4.54 in 8 games for the Storm. He also started 13 games for the AA Midland Angels, but his ERA was 7.79.

After allowing 6 runs in an inning in Midland in 1998, De La Cruz was released and he signed with the Boston Red Sox. He had a 1.04 ERA in 12 games for the Sarasota Red Sox, and he also pitched 3 2/3 shutout innings for the Trenton Thunder. De La Cruz then went to Japan and signed with the Kintetsu Buffaloes. He had a 3.21 ERA with 9 saves in the NPB Farm League, but he only pitched 2 games with the big club. He then had a 6.37 ERA in 41 relief outings in Trenton in 2000, and he also went 3-4 with a 3.99 ERA for the Kaoping Fala of the TML.

De La Cruz stayed in Taiwan in 2001, and this time he pitched for another league. He was 2-2 with a 4.23 ERA for the Uni-President Lions of the CPBL, then he signed a minor league contract with the Colorado Rockies. De La Cruz was 2-5 with a 5.45 ERA in 2002, then he went to the Detroit Tigers in 2003. He had a 8.25 ERA in 7 games for the Erie SeaWolves, and he surrendered 5 runs in 3 1/3 innings with the Toledo Mud Hens. De La Cruz went to Mexico in 2005, and his ERA was 2.02 with 7 saves in 32 games for the Olmecas de Tabasco. He also pitched 9 shutout innings for the Atlantic City Surf.

In 2006, De La Cruz had a 2.25 ERA in 29 games as the closer of the Guerreros de Oaxaca, and he notched 19 saves, tying Enrique Ramirez for 7th in the Mexican League. He had a 1.00 ERA in 8 games for the Azucareros del Este, and his ERA was 8.53 with 3 saves in 8 appearances for the Yaquis de Obregon that winter. De La Cruz notched 17 saves in 41 relief outings for the Oaxaca in 2007, but his ERA rose to 7.11. He also pitched 13 2/3 shutout innings for the Piratas de Campeche, his 24 saves between the two teams ranking second in the LMB, behind Maximo De La Rosa. He was 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA in Azucareros in the winter. His ERA was 2.70 for Campeche in 2008 (2-2, 14 Sv), but he allowed 6 runs in 2 1/3 innings for the Potros de Tijuana. De La Cruz went 2-0 with a 2.05 ERA for the Toros del Este in 2009, but his ERA rose to 9.72 in 8 games in 2010. He made one more winter appearance, in Mexico in 2012-2013, to wrap up a long career.