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CLEVELAND — Yankees reliever Fernando Cruz’s baseball career was dying a slow death in the low minors. He was a prospect when the Royals drafted him in the sixth round out of a Puerto Rican high school in 2007, but four years later he hadn’t gotten out of A-ball.
Back then, Cruz was a switch-hitting third baseman with a triple whammy:
He didn’t hit for power, he didn’t hit for average and he didn’t steal bases.
Desperate to keep his big-league dream alive, Cruz took up catching because his right arm had always been his biggest tool.
When that didn’t work, the Royals figured they had nothing to lose seeing if they could turn Cruz into a pitcher.
His first year on the mound was a disaster. Sent back to rookie ball in 2011, Cruz ran up a 7.99 ERA in 17 Arizona League relief appearances with 17 strikeouts and 15 walks in 23.2 innings.
His offseason forever changed his life.
Playing winter ball back home in Puerto Rico, Cruz was introduced to a new pitch by a journeyman pitcher named Benny Cepeda.
That’s when Cruz started throwing split-finger fastballs, which are commonly called splitters.
The grip that Cruz uses, different from most who throw the pitch, took years to master.
Cruz was 32 when he finally made it to the majors with the Reds in 2022, but his out pitch was still hit or miss for three more years, until he was traded to the Yankees in December 2024 with catcher Alex Jackson for catcher Jose Trevino.
Now, his splitter is one of the best pitches in the majors.
Cruz featured it again Tuesday night when he picked up his first save of the season and third of his career in a 3-2 Yankees win over the Guardians. The save was a five-out version that included four strikeouts on splitters, including three in a row to end the game with the tying run on first base.
“All I can say, and I’m going to say it a thousand times, it’s my gift from God,” said Cruz, a devout Christian. “It’s just something that I don’t really understand. It’s a supernatural pitch that I have. Watching guys swinging over it or below it, it’s an amazing thing.
“I’m here because of His gift. He gave the gift to me, and I’m really grateful for it.”
Cruz has been one of the best relievers in the league, pitching to a 1.84 ERA in 32 outings with 37 strikeouts and 15 walks in 29 1/3 innings, and his splitter has been the key to his success.
His teammates have taken notice of the weapon
“Well, it’s obviously very unique,” Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole said after a four-inning, two-run no-decision. “It’s like a fork ball. It’s a little unpredictable in how it moves, which I think is helpful for him, and there’s no one else in the league throwing it.
“So it’s really hard to prepare for something like that.”
Cruz was used in a closer role Tuesday because David Bednar was unavailable after pitching two days in a row. The Yankees’ entire bullpen was pretty spent after everyone except for Cruz was used in Monday night’s 7-5, 10-inning win in Cleveland.
Manager Aaron Boone turned to Cruz in the eighth inning with the game on the line.
Jazz Chisholm homered in the top of the inning to break a 2-2 tie, then Yankees reliever Jake Bird got into a jam in the bottom half when Daniel Schuemann singled with one out and Brayan Rocchio followed with a walk.
With the Guardians’ best hitters coming up, Cruz continued his season-long trend of being at his best when pitching with inherited runners on base. With the tying and go-ahead runners aboard, Cruz struck out Travis Bazzana with a bottom-falling-out splitter for the second out, then future Hall of Famer Jose Ramirez flied to center to end the inning.
That threat killed, Cruz’s season totals for stranding inherited runners improved to 29 for 33. That’s an 87.9 success rate, which ranks among the best in the majors.
The Guardians’ ninth started with Cruz walking Chase DeLauter on four pitches, a slider and three fastballs.
From there, he mostly went back to his bread-and-butter pitch, and the result was three strikeouts in a row on nasty splitters to end the game — Kyle Manzardo, then Rhys Hoskins and then Angel Martinez.
“All the glory from my glory,” Cruz said. “I’m excited for the opportunity to close that game and help my team just to pick up my guys in the bullpen.”
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