Nelson Cruz naps and hits home runs
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It's unclear if the 42-year-old will be available for Wednesday's season finale. MINNEAPOLIS -- Nelson Cruz said to Twins senior director of communications Dustin Morse at the end of Spring Training that he planned to hit his 400th career home run this season -- and to expect playoff baseball in October at Target Field. Maeda didn’t really need all of that run support, as the right-hander allowed four hits and struck out six in a strong debut following his acquisition in an offseason trade from the Dodgers. Maeda faced two batters over the minimum in the first four innings before he hit a bump in the fifth, when he allowed a two-run blast to Luis Robert, the 22-year-old center fielder’s first career home run, but otherwise wrapped up an effective outing. Clubbies cleared out an old luggage room adjacent to the team clubhouse and family room, put up some drywall and placed three sleep stations inside -- a bunk bed and queen-sized mattress. Dim lighting was installed and Morse says a sound machine was used at some point, although he's not sure who brought it in there.
He hit his first career home run on July 31 against Willie Eyre of the Twins. On August 16, Cruz hit the first grand slam of his career off of Kevin Gregg of the Angels. On September 4, 2006, against the Athletics, he hit an inside-the-park home run in which his bat broke on impact.
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May 14, 2010 Texas Rangers activated RF Nelson Cruz from the 15-day disabled list. June 22, 2010 Texas Rangers activated RF Nelson Cruz from the 15-day disabled list. August 30, 2010 Texas Rangers activated RF Nelson Cruz from the 15-day disabled list. May 23, 2011 Texas Rangers activated RF Nelson Cruz from the 15-day disabled list. September 13, 2011 Texas Rangers activated RF Nelson Cruz from the 15-day disabled list. April 14, 2018 Seattle Mariners activated DH Nelson Cruz from the 10-day disabled list.
After signing with the New York Mets organization in 1998, Cruz played his first major league game in 2005 with the Milwaukee Brewers. He had a breakthrough season in 2009, hitting 33 home runs for the Texas Rangers. Cruz played for the Rangers in the World Series in 2010 and 2011, and was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2011 American League Championship Series. On August 5, 2013, Cruz was suspended for 50 games by MLB for his involvement in the Biogenesis baseball scandal. In 2014, he led the major leagues with 40 home runs as a member of the Baltimore Orioles.
Advanced Batting
Made his professional debut with the Mets affiliate in the Dominican Summer League...hit .271 with one home run and 13 RBI in 30 games. Many historical player head shots courtesy of David Davis. All images are property the copyright holder and are displayed here for informational purposes only. MLB Scores Yesterday's MLB Games, Scores from any date in Major League history, MLB Probable Pitchers, Baseball-Reference Stream Finder, ... Bryce Harper and Manny Machado both should have a shot in the back ends of their careers, each about halfway to 500 with long-term contracts in place with their current teams. All that is why teammates Eddie Rosario, Marwin Gonzalez and Sanó were at the top step of the Twins' dugout to be the first to congratulate Cruz once he crossed home plate and pointed to his parents in the crowd.
It also marked Cruz's team-leading 40th bomb of the season, joining Barry Bonds and Hank Aaron as the only players in MLB history to hit the feat at age 39 or older. Cruz crushed an opposite-field solo homer off Kansas City reliever Gabe Speier in the fourth inning to become the 57th member of Major League Baseball's 400-homer club. Led by Cruz's big swing, two towering homers from Miguel Sanó and three RBI doubles from Eddie Rosario, the Twins closed their regular-season home schedule with a 12-8 win over the Royals.
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Right-hander Trevor May, A's finalize $7M, 1-year contract Right-handed reliever Trevor May and the Athletics have finalized a $7 million, one-year contract. Pirates get OF Connor Joe from Rockies for prospect Nick Garcia The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired outfielder Connor Joe from Colorado on Sunday in exchange for pitching prospect Nick Garcia. February 24, 2014 Baltimore Orioles signed free agent LF Nelson Cruz. January 2, 2019 Minnesota Twins signed free agent DH Nelson Cruz. February 5, 2021 Minnesota Twins signed free agent DH Nelson Cruz. March 17, 2022 Washington Nationals signed free agent DH Nelson Cruz.
On September 7, 2014, in a game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Cruz went 4-for-5 with two home runs and 7 RBIs, including his 100th RBI of the season. His previous season high in RBIs had been 90, set in 2012. In 159 games played in 2014, Cruz had an MLB-leading 40 home runs along with a .271 batting average, 32 doubles, and 108 RBI. He led AL right fielders in range factor for the third straight year (2.29).
With 21 games remaining in the season, it is hardly a stretch to expect Cruz to surpass ARod's 2000 total. For the record, I'm anticipating all your steroid jokes and finding all of them hilarious. It's been an awfully long time since we've seen a hitter like Cruz in a Mariners uniform.
Cruz was selected Dominican Republic national baseball team at the 2009 World Baseball Classic, 2013 World Baseball Classic, 2017 World Baseball Classic. Cruz and the Dominican Republic national baseball team won the 2013 World Baseball Classic and Cruz was named to the 2013 All-World Baseball Classic team. April 3, 2018 Seattle Mariners placed DH Nelson Cruz on the 10-day disabled list retroactive to April 1, 2018. " more fun because of the person he is," hitting coach James Rowson said. "We get to, obviously, spend time with him as a family and spend time around him talking. This guy's just a special human being. So, it’s more fun when you see a really good person be able to accomplish really cool things in this game."
Named an AL All-Star for the second time in his career , hitting 27 homeruns in 109 games…ranked 7th in the AL with a 5.43 AB/RBI ratio (min. 400 AB)…missed 50 games, August 5-Sept. 29, when he was placed on the restricted list (50-gamesuspension from MLB - Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program)…reinstated forthe Wild Card tiebreaker, game #163, Sept. 30 vs. TB, going 0-for-4 as the DH. "Growing up, I never thought to be able to hit that many home runs," Cruz said earlier this week. "It's definitely a blast to be a part of baseball history. So it's just, I guess, one season at a time, grow to the moment." The blast made Cruz the ninth Dominican-born player to reach the 400-homer milestone, joining Albert Pujols, Sammy Sosa, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Adrián Beltré, Vladimir Guerrero, Edwin Encarnación and Alfonso Soriano.
Cruz will be sidelined once again as he continues to deal with left eye inflammation. It's not yet clear when he'll return, but Luke Voit will continue to serve as the designated hitter and bat cleanup. It's hard to pin down when Cruz's pregame napping habit started.
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