Late yesterday the colleague Francys Romero reported of another defection of a top pitcher from Cuba’s National Team, his name is Naykel Cruz. The left-hander who has seen action in the Mexican circuit with Campeche was also part of the Cuban World Baseball Classic squad that reached the semifinals of the tournament.
As per Romero’s report Cruz is currently in the Dominican Republic and will be doing the process for MLB free agency in hopes of securing an international signing. The 24-year-old has also seen action with Cuba’s Sub-23 squad. Cruz throws a fastball between 91-93 MPH consistently topping out at 94. The native of Matanzas, Cuba also throws an above-average curve, sinker and curveball.
Left-hander Naykel Cruz has defected to the Dominican Republic in search of a signing with an MLB ballclub. Cruz also left Cuba in 2019 in search of a signing, but returned.@francysromeroFR first to report.#CubanBaseballDigest #Cuba pic.twitter.com/7AUWOtzjRz
— Cuban Baseball Digest (@CBaseballDigest) February 28, 2024
This is the second time Cruz leaves Cuba for the Dominican Republic, the hurler left for the Caribbean island in 2019 but was unable to secure a signing. During the 2022 Sub-23 World Cup, he posted a 1.00 ERA in 7 innings with 8 strikeouts. A year earlier in Mexico he also demonstrated dominance against many players signed by MLB organizations in the U-23 World Cup. In Obregón and Hermosillo, he struck out 15 in 10.2 innings and between the two world championships opponents hit .212 against Cruz.
The pitcher also saw action as a professional in the Liga Mexicana de Béisbol with the Piratas de Campeche going 0-2 with a 9.82 ERA and in 11 he struck 7, all this while also posting a 2.64 WHIP. During his five seasons in the Serie Nacional with the Cocodrilos de Matanzas he compiled a 19-10 record, 4.13 earned run average. Expect Cruz to get a long look from plenty of major league organizations.