When the Yankees acquired RHP Fernando Cruz from the Reds for Jose Trevino, they knew he was a project reliever after two seasons where he allowed too much damage contact and issued too many free passes. The strikeout rates were extremely high, enticing Brian Cashman to make the trade despite the right-hander being in his mid-30s, but they would have to make alterations to his repertoire if they wanted to get the most out of this deal.
Cruz spent all of Spring Training getting battered around as he worked on some new things, including bringing back his slider after completely shelving it last season. That experience getting hit around seemed to work out perfectly for him, as the right-hander has been one of the best relievers in baseball this season. With a league-leading 18 strikeouts out of the bullpen, the Yankees have a real high-leverage weapon in Fernando Cruz, who has reinvented himself in the Bronx.
The Secret Behind Fernando Cruz’s Rise With the Yankees
Despite having a 3.27 FIP and 37.8% K%, Fernando Cruz posted a 4.86 ERA with the Reds last season, but that can’t just be chalked up to luck. While poor luck and a home ballpark that isn’t favorable to pitchers didn’t help his case, Cruz had a bad tendency to miss with his pitches, whether it was over the heart of the plate or way outside of the zone. His 1.22 HR/9 and 12.2% walk rate were indicators that Cruz’s ability to execute pitches was subpar, so the Yankees have simplified things for him.
The goal now is to get to that splitter as soon as humanly possible; the Yankees have had Fernando Cruz throw his splitter 56.8% of the time compared to last season, when he used it just 41.9% of the time. The Yankees know that batters can’t handle that pitch and want to ensure that Cruz throws it as much as possible to get chases out of the zone and rack up strikeouts. An increase in usage rate usually comes with a reduction in effectiveness, but the whiff rate remains unchanged while the results have improved.
It’s not as simple as just repeatedly throwing the splitter until an out is recorded; Fernando Cruz still has to find ways to get ahead in the count to set up a strikeout. Last season, Cruz relied on his four-seamer and cutter 58% of the time, but opposing batters hit .310 with a .410 wOBA against those two pitches combined. The Yankees would not only shake up his pitch usage, but they would also add some new pitches to his repertoire to try and keep hitters off-balance.
His cutter was flat-out unusable, so the Yankees cut it out of the mix, and his four-seamer was ineffective, so they reduced the usage of that pitch. They seemed to have also made alterations to the four-seamer since it’s averaging a career-high 18.1 inches of IVB, more than an inch improved from last season. He reintroduced his slider and sinker back into the fold full-time, and Fernando Cruz is altering how frequently he uses those secondaries based on the matchup.
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Sinkers from right-handed pitchers work best against right-handed hitters but are usually ineffective against lefties, which explains why Fernando Cruz almost exclusively deploys his against same-handed hitters. Four-seamers can be really effective against opposite-handed hitters at the top of the zone, especially when used in tandem with a good offspeed pitch like a splitter, and the slider he throws is platoon-neutral since he gets good vertical and lateral movement on it.
This arsenal is far more complete than the one he had last season, and we’re seeing massive improvements in the quality of contact he’s allowing as a result. Last season, Cruz had a 9.8% Barrel% and .460 xwOBACON allowed; batters were crushing everything they made contact with against the right-hander, and it made him ineffective. This season, Cruz has yet to allow a barrel and has a .301 xwOBACON, meaning he went from one of the worst in the sport at preventing damage contact to one of the best.
He hasn’t had to lose an ounce of his strikeout stuff in the process, instead, he’s striking out more hitters than he did last season with a reduced walk rate. His 18 strikeouts lead all relievers in baseball, with a 2.53 ERA and 1.46 xERA to go with it. The Yankees are looking at a true high-leverage bullpen arm that adds some much-needed swing and miss to a group that struggled with that very thing last year. Right now, the Yankees’ bullpen has the highest strikeout rate in baseball, and with arms like Tyler Matzek, Jake Cousins, and Jonathan Loaisiga on the way, they could be even better.