Juan Cruz (baseball)

Juan Cruz
Free agent
Pitcher
Born: October 15, 1978 (1978-10-15) Bonao, Dominican Republic
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
August 21, 2001 for the Chicago Cubs
Career statistics (through June 28, 2011)
Win-loss record	36-35
Earned run average	4.10
Strikeouts	607
Teams
Chicago Cubs (2001–2003) Atlanta Braves (2004) Oakland Athletics (2005) Arizona Diamondbacks (2006–2008) Kansas City Royals (2009–2010) Tampa Bay Rays (2011)

Juan Carlos Cruz (born October 15, 1978 in Bonao, Dominican Republic) is a Major League Baseball pitcher.

Early life

Cruz attended Janaco Bonao High School in Bonao.

Career

Cruz pitching for the Kansas City Royals in 2009.

Cruz was signed for the Chicago Cubs by scout Jose Serra. He began his pro career with the Cubs' Rookie Level team, the Mesa Cubs, where he went 2–4 with a 6.10 earned run average and 36 strikeouts in only 41.1 innings pitched. Cruz went 5–6 with a 5.94 for Chicago's Single-A affiliate, the Eugene Emeralds, in 1999.

Cruz split the 2000 season between the Single-A Lansing Lugnuts and Daytona Cubs. His combined stats for the year included an 8–5 record, a 3.27 ERA and 160 K's in 25 games and 140.1 innings. He also threw three complete games.

Cruz made his big league debut for the Cubs on August 21, 2001, against the Milwaukee Brewers. He went 3–1 with a 3.22 ERA in his first 8 starts, and also recorded his first two major league hits on October 2. One of his highlights for the beginning of Cruz's season was that he was named to the All-Star Futures Team.

Cruz went 3–11 with a 3.98 ERA in 45 games in 2002. He also picked up his first career save. He went 2–7 with a 6.05 ERA in 2003 in 6 starts with the Cubs. He started the year in the Cubs bullpen but was sent down to the Iowa Cubs on June 3. On Opening Day in 2003, Cruz struck out 6 consecutive batters, becoming only the second Cubs reliever to do so.

Cruz was traded to the Atlanta Braves on March 25, 2004. Cruz went 6–2 with a 2.75 ERA in 50 relief appearances. He set a career high in wins and games pitched, and placed second in the Atlanta bullpen with 8.75 K's per 9 innings. With runners in scoring position, opposing batters only hit .159 against him.

On December 14, 2004, Cruz was traded to the Oakland Athletics in a deal involving Tim Hudson. He struggled in the beginning of the year and was sent down to Triple-A Sacramento in June. Cruz returned to the big-league team in September when rosters expanded, and he recorded a 4.82 ERA in his last 7 games of the season. His overall stats for the year were an 0–3 record and a 7.44 ERA with 34 strikeouts in 28 games in Oakland.

After going 2–0 with 10.1 scoreless innings for Oakland in 2006 Spring Training, he was dealt to the Arizona Diamondbacks for pitcher Brad Halsey. Cruz pitched in four scoreless outings for the D'backs in the spring after being traded. Cruz began the year in the starting rotation, and went 3–3 with a 4.05 ERA and 41 K's in 14 games, before being placed on the day-to-day disabled list with shoulder soreness on June 6. Two days later, he was moved to the 15-day DL. Cruz bounced between the bullpen and the rotation in 2006, but was used strictly out of the bullpen in 2007. He was on the disabled list for about three weeks from late-April to early-May 2007.

On February 28, 2009, Cruz signed a 2-year contract with the Kansas City Royals. On April 23, 2010, the Royals released Cruz.

On February 3, 2011, the Tampa Bay Rays signed Cruz to a minor league contract.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)