Cruz was originally drafted by the Royals as a catcher. They moved Fernando to the mound in 2011.

He became a pitcher in 2011, but was released in 2012. He joined the Cubs organization in 2015, pitched in independent baseball leagues from 2016 to 2018, and in the Mexican League in 2018 and 2021.

When David Bell approached Fernando between games and told him he’d be starting the second game of the doubleheader against the Pirates, it was the manager who was a little caught off guard. Cruz, who last started a game in the Puerto Rican Winter League in 2019 and made it to the majors as a Triple-A closer, didn’t seem surprised at all.

“It was almost like he was expecting it,” Bell said after the Reds’ 1-0 loss in the second game of the Pirates’ doubleheader sweep. “There’s no way he could have known, but it didn’t surprise him at all.”

When you’ve been where Cruz has been over his career, nothing can surprise you, and there’s nothing a team could ask that he wouldn’t do.

“I am all about my team,” said Cruz, who retired all five Pirates he faced before giving way to Reiver Sanmartin. “If they needed me to go (longer), whatever, I’d go.”

Cruz isn’t just happy to be in the big leagues — but he’s happy to be in the big leagues. Reaching the big leagues was a goal, yes, but it’s not the ultimate goal. That’s to be here for the long haul.

“He’s earned an opportunity to enjoy this and that’s really what he’s doing,” Bell said. “I think that’s a big part of who he is and how he has success. So, no reason to change it now, no reason to do anything different at this level. And he’s shown he belongs here.”

He recently had his sixth appearance with the Reds since being called up when rosters expanded on Sept. 1. He’s allowed just a run on two hits with four walks and seven strikeouts in 6.1 innings.

Cruz, as Bell noted, earned his way to the big leagues this year, putting up a 2.89 ERA in 56 innings with the Triple-A Louisville Bats, while recording 23 saves.

TJ Friedl, his teammate in Louisville for much of the season, said Cruz took over that closer’s role immediately when he got to the Bats. There was never much of a doubt about who was getting the ball when the team needed to finish off a game.

Cruz’s demeanor closing out the game was the same as when Bell told him he was going to start on Tuesday — ready for the challenge, but unsurprised. Both with the Bats and in his two weeks with the Reds, Cruz has looked the part of a big-leaguer, both on and off the mound. In fact, after he made his big-league debut on Sept. 2, Reds second baseman Jonathan India was surprised to learn that it was Cruz’s debut. India just assumed Cruz was another guy who had been there before.  (C. Trent Rosecrans - Sep 14, 2022)

B.A.T.

By the time Reds reliever Fernando Cruz made his Major League debut as a 32-year-old rookie on Sept. 2, 2022, he had toiled for 11 years as a professional ballplayer in the Minors -- across different organizations, countries, and independent leagues.  That made it even more rewarding for Cruz to finally achieve his dream after numerous setbacks, failures and bumps in the road. But none of those hardships compared to the one Hurricane Maria brought to his home and family in Puerto Rico.

In September 2017, Maria was the first Category 4 hurricane to hit the island in more than 80 years. The destruction it caused devastated the U.S. territory's 3.2 million citizens.  Cruz and his wife, Omaley, were separated at the time. By 2019, the couple had gotten back together, but their family home was still in disrepair from Hurricane Maria. Cruz had saved some money to fix the house, but it wasn't quite enough to complete the job.

"We had to get our house back. It had a lot of damage," Cruz said. "We didn’t have any furniture or any appliances."

It was MLB’s Baseball Assistance Team (B.A.T.) that came to the Cruz family's rescue. The right-hander applied for a grant and received $15,000.

"They bought everything for the house. It was a huge, huge, huge help for us. We still have everything they got us," said Cruz, who also has four children. “A lot of people don’t know about the help they can give. It can actually save families and save lives. It was life changing for me and my family.“That got me back on my feet. After that, things started to get going.”Three years later, Cruz reached the big leagues.

B.A.T. was formed in 1986 to help former big league players bridge the gap for expenses not covered by their pension. It has since evolved to provide aid for baseball's extended family, which includes former Major League players and coaches, Minor League players and coaches, scouts, umpires, athletic trainers, front office employees, clubhouse assistants and those who played in the Negro Leagues and the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

A misconception is that all professional baseball players have earned big money and lifetime financial security. But Minor League pay is not big league pay. Not everybody reaches the Majors, and some in the game can fall through societal cracks. That's where B.A.T. can pinch-hit.

In 2022, B.A.T. assisted 1,374 grant applicants and provided $3 million of assistance via grants, scholarships and aid for crisis situations. According to B.A.T., 88 percent of their applicants are under 50 years old and make less than $20,000 per year.

"Sometimes, people need a little jump-start to regroup and get back on track. That’s what we’re here for, just to provide a short-term bridge to help someone get back to being self-sufficient," B.A.T. executive director Erik Nilsen said.

B.A.T. also helps those experiencing drug and alcohol addiction get treatment, provides aid for mental health services, funeral expenses and medical expenses and helps Minor Leaguers lacking education get degrees and jobs.  “We do understand the transition away from baseball is a struggle," Nilsen said. "It’s not as easy as people think. Baseball players have a PhD in baseball, that’s their expertise. But giving lessons and coaching at academies are not the most fruitful things to do, income-wise. We try to work with our applicants to help point them in the right direction."

Cruz's good friend Ivan Reyes is a B.A.T. consultant based in Puerto Rico and told him about the program in 2019. "I thought, ‘That would be great for me.’ They don’t just give that money away. They check if you really need it. They give the money to the right people," Cruz said.

Each Spring Training, B.A.T. staff members hold meetings with each Major League club to promote their services and seek donations. During this year's meeting inside the Reds’ spring clubhouse in Goodyear, Ariz., Cruz came forward and shared his story with teammates. Because all aid provided by B.A.T. is confidential, many players in the game aren't familiar enough with its capacity to help.

“I will do whatever they need me to do to help build up their organization and talk to players about it," Cruz said.  "His way of paying it forward hopefully gets more people to reach out and ask for help and get what they need," Nilsen said. “I don’t think I’ve met a more genuine, humble and grateful individual."

Cruz paid it forward with action as well as talk shortly after Hurricane Fiona delivered more catastrophic damage to Puerto Rico in September 2022. Within a month, Cruz used his pickup truck to gather four pallets of aid and supplies sent to the island by MLB. He, Nilsen, and members of B.A.T. distributed those items to people in need.  

“Fernando volunteered to help," Nilsen said. "He’s just a good all-around person. We’re happy to help good people and see that he’s in a great place right now.”

Cruz pitched a full season in the Reds' bullpen during 2023 and posted a 4.91 ERA in 58 games. He also earned what was long an elusive Major League salary ($720,000). "Now I’m donating money to them," Cruz said of B.A.T. "Anything I can do to help.” (Mark Sheldon - Nov. 15, 2023) 

MLB catchers Austin Wynns, P.J. Higgins, Michael Trautwein, and Daniel Vellojin all picked Fernando Cruz’s splitter as the nastiest pitch.

“That’s because they’d never caught it before,” Reds' veteran catcher Luke Maile said.

Maile may have played it cool, but Cruz calls his splitter his “gift from God,” and it’s a huge reason he’s in the big leagues. 

Higgins has played in the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago Cubs organizations and said not many splitters were thrown in either place. So perhaps for him, it’s an even bigger outlier.

“It’s electric,” Higgins said.

The way Higgins explains it, Cruz’s splitter appears to knuckle early and then looks like a fastball before dropping. 

“It’s unpredictable — it goes down, to the side, to the other side and sometimes it stays on the same plane,” said Wynns.

All the catchers mentioned the knuckleball characteristics, with Stephenson even chuckling and calling Cruz’s pitch exactly that — a knuckleball, not a splitter.

“It’s unpredictable — it goes down, to the side, to the other side and sometimes it stays on the same plane,” said Wynns.

Trautwein said some split-finger fastballs can almost have a loop before dropping, but Cruz’s “just dives off the table.”

Cruz threw the pitch 35.9 percent of the time last season, limiting hitters to just a .094 batting average. He has a 56.7 percent whiff rate on the pitch, too.

“You know it’s coming and you know it’s a pitch designed to get you to swing and miss at a ball in the dirt and you still do it,” Trautwein said. “These are the best hitters in the world and they’re swinging at a ball that bounces.”

Some have called 2024 the “year of the splitter” and Cruz’s is one of the best — and most unique — splitters in the game.

“We’ve got a lot of really good splitters on this team but they all have a little bit different characteristics to them,” Trautwein said. “Some are split-changes, some are more true splits, some cut every now and then. And then Cruz has the ‘gift from God,’ as he says.” (Rosecrans - Mar 26, 2024 - The Athletic)

TRANSACTIONS

June 2007: The Royals chose Cruz in the 6th round, out of P.R. Advancement College in  Bayamon, Puerto Rico. 

Oct. 3, 2012: The Royals released Cruz.

2013-2014: Fernando pitched in the Mexican League.

2015: Cruz signed with the Cubs organization.

March 2016: He was released by the Cubs.

Feb 2022: Cruz signed with the Reds organization.

Dec 20, 2024: The Reds acquired Jose Trevino from the Yankees in exchange for right-handed reliever Fernando Cruz and catcher Alex Jackson.

2022 Season: In what has to be the best story in the organization this year, Fernando Cruz dominated in Triple-A Louisville most of the year before being promoted to join the big league club where he continued to pitch well.

But the season didn’t start out great after having not pitched in affiliated baseball since 2015.

At the end of April his ERA was 7.36. Over the next four months, he posted a 2.22 ERA in 48.2 innings, dropping his season ERA to 2.89 for Louisville while leading the organization with 23 saves and striking out 66 batters in 56.0 total innings.  (Doug Gray - October 8, 2022)

2024 Season Pitch Usage/Avg. Velo: Fastball 32.4% - 94.8 mph; Slider 25.3% - 88.8 mph; Split 41.7% - 81.7 mph.

2024 Season: Cruz has the ability to throw a splitter with more action than anyone else in the game. His 14.09 K/9 was the third-highest among the 160 pitchers who threw at least 50 IP last year, though his 5.04 BB/9 ranked as the 11th worst. Despite his stuff looking mostly unhittable, he still managed to be tagged for 9 homers this year and a 4.86 ERA - though his FIP of 3.27 suggests he was a much better arm than that.

Examining Fernando Cruz’s Dominant Splitter

At the heart of Cruz’s impressive strikeout numbers lies his exceptional splitter, a pitch that has become integral to his success as a Yankees reliever. This pitch has proven nearly unhittable in 2025, with batters managing only a .141 average against it. With a whiff rate of 60.9%, it’s clear why Cruz relies heavily on this pitch, throwing it nearly 60% of the time. The splitter’s significant vertical drop—averaging 41.3 inches—is a major factor in its effectiveness, and Cruz’s ability to command this pitch even after transferring to the Yankees adds a layer of intrigue to his performance.

Cruz’s reliance on his splitter over a fastball showcases a different approach to strikeouts compared to many modern pitchers who lean on velocity. His average fastball hits only 93.4 mph, yet his strikeout rate outshines many higher-velocity pitchers. This divergence highlights how effective pitching does not merely stem from speed but also from pitch selection and movement, reinforcing the Yankees’ overarching strategy of developing diverse pitching skills. As Cruz continues to leverage his splitter, he solidifies his role not just as a reliable reliever but potentially as a leading force in the MLB bullpen landscape.

However, while Cruz’s splitter has been overwhelmingly effective, it’s essential to consider the nuances of his entire pitching arsenal. Despite its dominance, it is not the only pitch in his repertoire; he also utilizes four-seamers, sliders, and sinkers. Although these pitches retain their effectiveness due to their movement, Cruz’s inconsistency with them can lead to challenging situations on the mound. It’s this combination of a brilliant primary pitch and less reliable secondary options that creates both potential for brilliance and risk, emphasizing the need for ongoing improvement in command.

Pitching coach Matt Blake’s guidance has been instrumental in helping Cruz manage his outings more effectively, mitigating the impact of those less favorable innings that plagued him in the past. By refining his secondary pitches and improving his command, Cruz has elevated his game to new heights. This ongoing development could be pivotal for Cruz’s long-term success in the Yankees bullpen, revealing how crucial coaching and players’ adaptability are in the world of MLB relief pitchers. (Felix Pantaleón - NYY News - 10/04/2025)

April 29-May 26, 2023: Cruz was on the IL with right shoulder strain.

Aug 31-Sept 8, 2023: Cruz was on the IL with Covid-19.

May 19-June 3, 2025: Cruz was on the IL with right shoulder inflammation.

June 28-Aug 26, 2025: Cruz was on the IL with left oblique strain.

June 30, 2025: Cruz sustained the injury during a medicine ball workout in the weight room prior to the game against the Athletics, according to manager Aaron Boone. An MRI performed in New York revealed a “high grade” strain that will cost the right-hander at least a month, Boone said.