Among major league hitters, Nelson Cruz is in the 98th percentile for Max Exit Velocity, 95th for Avg Exit Velocity, 94th in HardHit%, 93rd in xwOBA, 92nd in xSLG, 86th in Barrel%, and 70th in strikeouts. Instead he brings one of baseball’s best bats, with a 141 wRC+ on the season and 19 homers already accumulated.ĭon’t let his age fool you.
#Nelson cruz plus#
The Rays chose not to wait, and flexed that farm system muscle by offering the Twins two quality starting pitchers for the future in return of an energizing hitter.īy spending both prospect capital and cash - Cruz is owed at least $5 million for the rest of the season, a sizeable sum for Tampa Bay - the Rays pick up a designated hitter who does not need to be platooned, a plus when much of the Rays roster plays in a time-share.Ĭruz does not offer much in the way of defense - although one person told me he’s always carrying the appropriate gloves should he need to play first, second, or the outfield. The Rays also could have thrown their hat into the sure-to-come bidding war for Kris Bryant. With baseball’s best farm system, all the chips could have been pushed in for one of baseball’s top flight hitters like Jose Ramirez. In desperate need of a quality right handed bat, the Rays could have gone in many directions.
Typically trades for position players mid-season do not net strong returns, but the Rays are sending two Triple-A starting pitchers to get the deal done, including Olympics bound Joe Ryan and the 40-man rostered Drew Strotman, who had to be protected from the Rule-5 draft last offseason. The Tampa Bay Rays have made a rare trade deadline splash, acquiring 41-year old Designated Hitter Nelson Cruz from the Minnesota Twins.
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