2026 Stats
W-L
3-0
ERA
2.63
WHIP
1.54
K
20
SV
0
Rest-of-Season Projections
2026 Fantasy Outlook
Cruz's splitter continues to be one of the most dominant pitches in all of baseball. In 2025, it produced a 56.6 percent whiff rate that was tops in the league for that pitch type, and was responsible for 63 of the right-hander's 72 strikeouts on the season. It's no wonder Cruz tossed his splitter a career-high 61 percent of the time last season. Among relief pitchers with a minimum of 40 innings in 2025, Cruz ranked fifth with a 36.0 percent strikeout rate. Walks were still an issue, but the Puerto Rican native gave the Yankees' bullpen a huge boost when healthy. Cruz missed two months of action last summer due to a strained left oblique, but returned before the end of August. The 35-year-old should open 2026 as one of New York's top setup men, but if closer David Bednar were to get hurt, Cruz could step into regular save chances for the first time in his career. Read Past Outlooks
Signed a one-year, $1.45 million contract with the Yankees in January of 2026.
Second win of season
Cruz (2-0) earned the win over the Astros on Saturday after not allowing a run over two-thirds of an inning, walking one and striking out two.
Analysis
Cruz recorded the final two outs of the sixth inning. Even though he walked Jose Altuve as soon as he entered the game, he bounced back by striking out Christian Walker and Yainer Diaz. Cruz had given up at least one run in his previous two relief appearances, so this was a nice bounce-back performance for the right-hander. Still, given his recent inconsistencies and the role he's filling in the bullpen right now, his fantasy upside is limited.
Cruz recorded the final two outs of the sixth inning. Even though he walked Jose Altuve as soon as he entered the game, he bounced back by striking out Christian Walker and Yainer Diaz. Cruz had given up at least one run in his previous two relief appearances, so this was a nice bounce-back performance for the right-hander. Still, given his recent inconsistencies and the role he's filling in the bullpen right now, his fantasy upside is limited.
Pitching Stats
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2026 MLB Game Log
2026
2025
2024
2023
2022
Minor League Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
15
Last 10 Games
18
Last 5 Games
17
How many pitches does Fernando Cruz generally throw?
1-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
61-70
71-80
81-90
91-100
101-110
111-120
121+
What part of the game does Fernando Cruz generally pitch?
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2024
-26%
BAA vs RHP
2026
-1%
BAA vs RHP
| BAA | K | BB | H | HR | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2024vs Left | .246 | 73 | 31 | 48 | 9 | |||
| Since 2024vs Right | .181 | 128 | 38 | 50 | 7 | |||
| 2026vs Left | .222 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 1 | |||
| 2026vs Right | .219 | 14 | 5 | 7 | 1 | |||
| 2025vs Left | .225 | 26 | 8 | 16 | 2 | |||
| 2025vs Right | .168 | 46 | 16 | 17 | 3 | |||
| 2024vs Left | .264 | 41 | 18 | 28 | 6 | |||
| 2024vs Right | .181 | 68 | 17 | 26 | 3 | |||
| More Splits→ | View More Split Stats | |||||||
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2024
-20%
ERA on Road
2026
-14%
ERA at Home
| ERA | WHIP | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2024Home | 4.59 | 1.43 | 66.2 | 14.4 | 5.5 | ||||
| Since 2024Away | 3.65 | 1.17 | 61.2 | 13.7 | 4.1 | ||||
| 2026Home | 2.45 | 1.64 | 7.1 | 8.6 | 8.6 | ||||
| 2026Away | 2.84 | 1.42 | 6.1 | 18.5 | 4.3 | ||||
| 2025Home | 3.91 | 1.52 | 23.0 | 12.9 | 6.3 | ||||
| 2025Away | 3.24 | 0.88 | 25.0 | 14.0 | 2.9 | ||||
| 2024Home | 5.45 | 1.32 | 36.1 | 16.6 | 4.5 | ||||
| 2024Away | 4.15 | 1.35 | 30.1 | 12.5 | 5.0 | ||||
| More Splits→ | View More Split Stats | ||||||||
Stat Review
How does Fernando Cruz compare to other relievers?
This section compares his stats with all relief pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 30 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 30 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 30 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
K/BB
2.00K/9
13.2BB/9
6.6HR/9
1.3Fastball
93.1 mphERA
2.63WHIP
1.54BABIP
.327GB/FB
0.56Left On Base
93.4%Exit Velocity
79.3 mphBarrels/BBE
7.5%Spin Rate
1638 rpmBalls Hit 95+ MPH
20.8%Swinging Strike
16.9%Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2025
2024
Cruz was one of Cincinnati's highest leverage relievers over the past two seasons, accumulating a 4.88 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 207:63 K:BB over 132.2 innings with the Reds. However, a trade to the Yankees likely bumps him down to a lower leverage middle relief role for 2025. The 34-year-old righty continues to rack up a ton of strikeouts (109 in 2024) with one of the filthiest splitters (.116 BAA, .149 SLG, 59.3 percent whiff) in the league, but his secondary offerings get crushed and his 11.4 percent career walk rate cannot be ignored.
More Fantasy News
Nabs win in relief Tuesday
Cruz (1-0) earned the win over the Athletics on Tuesday, walking two batters and striking out one over 1.1 hitless and scoreless innings.
Analysis
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Agrees to deal with Yanks
Cruz signed a one-year, $1.45 million contract with the Yankees to avoid arbitration Thursday, Jack Curry of YES Network reports.
Analysis
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Reinstated from injured list
The Yankees activated Cruz (oblique) from the 15-day injured list Tuesday.
Analysis
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Set for Tuesday activation
Cruz (oblique) said that he will be activated from the 15-day injured list Tuesday, Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News reports.
Analysis
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Return from IL imminent
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Saturday that Cruz (oblique) will be activated off the injured list Sunday or Monday, Max Goodman of NJ.com reports.
Analysis
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