Throughout the past few seasons, the New York Yankees have been excellent at turning average to mediocre relievers into elite bullpen arms. The latest product of their pitching lab? Fernando Cruz, a former Cincinnati Red who came to the Yankees this past offseason in return for catcher Jose Trevino.
Through 32 innings in a setup role, Cruz has registered 53 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.09. He also has a WHIP of 1.031 despite having a walk rate of 10.9%. Considering that 6 out of his 11 earned runs came in just two appearances, it’s safe to say that Cruz has been nothing short of dominant in most of his appearances.
Fernando Cruz Making a Name for Himself in Yankees Bullpen
Killer Splitter
Most strikeout pitchers rely on high velocity to make batters whiff, such as Josh Hader, Aroldis Chapman, and Mason Miller. Cruz, who has a higher strikeout rate than all of them, doesn’t pump out 100 miles per hour (his average fastball velocity sits at 93.4). Instead, he throws a splitter that averages 41.3 inches of vertical drop (according to Baseball Savant), having added 3+ additional inches of movement since joining New York.
Cruz’s splitter has accounted for 47 of his 53 strikeouts and just one of the three homers he’s surrendered; considering he throws it almost 60% of the time, it’s pretty remarkable. On top of that, batters are hitting just .141 against it, and they whiff against it at a rate of 60.9%. To put it simply, this one pitch has been close to unhittable.
Fernando Cruz comes in with two on and strikes out all three batters that he faces! pic.twitter.com/oNeyh4GUlq
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) June 22, 2025
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The Bad News
As great as Cruz’s splitter has been, the big issue he has is that it’s his only great pitch. He also throws a four-seamer (17.9% of the time), a slider (8.1%), and a sinker (15%). Despite velocity not being his strong suit, these three are still effective thanks mostly to a ton of movement. The problem is that he doesn’t have 100% command of these pitches, which can turn a solid inning into an ugly outing very quickly.
Still, pitching coach Matt Blake has helped Cruz become less prone to excessively ugly outings, which happen much less often than when he was in Cincinnati. That has been the main difference in the right-hander’s performance this year. His splitter has always been excellent, but now he has other pitches to properly supplement his signature pitch.
Sustaining Success
The only question now with Cruz is whether or not he’ll be able to remain one of the Yankees’ top relievers. Despite being 35 years old, 2025 is only his fourth season in the major leagues, so he doesn’t have a long track record of decent seasons like most older relievers do. Perhaps we’ll see depending on his performance through the rest of the season.
One thing is for certain, though: Cruz has quickly become not just one of the best relievers on the Yankees, but in all of baseball. Though his 3.09 ERA doesn’t look very pretty, his numbers suggest that they will improve based on how he’s pitching. At the very least, the Yankees have acquired another reliever for a small package and turned him into one of their most effective arms out of the bullpen.
Main Photo Credit: © John Jones-Imagn Images
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