Joel De La Cruz Santos (born June 9, 1989) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves.

Joel De La Cruz
Pitcher
Born: (1989-06-09) June 9, 1989 (age 35)
Bajos de Haina, Dominican Republic
Batted: Switch
Threw: Right
MLB debut
June 29, 2016, for the Atlanta Braves
Last MLB appearance
September 30, 2016, for the Atlanta Braves
MLB statistics
(through 2016 season)
Win–loss record0–7
Earned run average4.88
Strikeouts37
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams

Career

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Milwaukee Brewers

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De La Cruz signed with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2006 and was assigned to the team's Arizona League affiliate he played in the Brewers organization until 2009.

Washington Nationals

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He was signed and later released by the Washington Nationals in 2009.[1]

New York Yankees

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The New York Yankees signed De La Cruz in 2010.[2] He spent his first season with the Yankees in the Dominican Summer League and was promoted to the Tampa Yankees of the Florida State League during the 2011 season. De La Cruz split the 2012 season between the Charleston RiverDogs and Tampa. He was assigned to Tampa for the entirety of the 2013 season.[3][4] The Yankees promoted De La Cruz to the Trenton Thunder of the Double-A Eastern League at the start of 2014,[5] and later promoted him to the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.[6] De La Cruz resigned with the Yankees in September 2014,[7] and started the 2015 season with the Trenton Thunder. The Yankees promoted him to the major leagues on April 13, 2015, to replace Kyle Davies.[8] The Yankees outrighted him off of the 40-man roster on April 18.[9] He then split the season between Trenton and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Atlanta Braves

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De La Cruz became a minor league free agent after the 2015 season, and signed with the Braves.[10][11] The Braves promoted De La Cruz to the major leagues on April 11 and May 20, 2016,[12][13] each time for one day only.[14] He was outrighted off the Braves 40-man roster later that week, having made no major league appearances.[15] The Braves recalled De La Cruz for the third time during the 2016 season on June 29,[16] and he made his major league debut that night.[17] De La Cruz spent the season shifting between the bullpen and starting rotation.[18] He was released on October 23, 2017.

References

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  1. ^ Thompson, Jaylon (June 30, 2016). "Braves' De La Cruz impresses in losing effort". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  2. ^ DiPetro, Lou (April 13, 2015). "New York Yankees select Joel De La Cruz to roster, designate Kyle Davies for assignment". YES Network. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
  3. ^ Flammia, Nick (April 6, 2013). "Tampa Suffers First Loss After Late Lakeland Rally". MILB.com. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  4. ^ Flammia, Nick (September 1, 2013). "Tampa Ends 2013 with 9-6 Win Over Lakeland". MILB.com. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  5. ^ Peruffo, Nick (April 18, 2014). "Thunder's Diego Moreno effective in late-inning role". The Trentonian. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  6. ^ "-Base Hits Power RailRiders in Lopsided Tilt". MILB.com. May 4, 2014. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  7. ^ Eddy, Matt (September 27, 2014). "Minor League Transactions: Sept. 18-25". Baseball America. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
  8. ^ Fox Sports (April 13, 2015). "Yankees summon RHP De La Cruz; designate reliever Davies". FOX Sports. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  9. ^ Didtler, Mark (April 19, 2015). "New York Yankees rout Tampa Bay Rays behind Masahiro Tanaka's dominant effort". Oneida Daily Dispatch. Associated Press. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  10. ^ DiPietro, Lou (November 24, 2015). "Yankees re-sign C Kyle Higashioka, lose three to minor-league free agency". YES Network. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  11. ^ Eddy, Matt (November 26, 2015). "Minor League Transactions: Nov. 14-20". Baseball America. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  12. ^ "Braves CF Mallex Smith leaves MLB debut with cut on face". ESPN.com. April 11, 2016. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  13. ^ Bowman, Mark (May 20, 2016). "Braves call up De La Cruz, option Gant". MLB.com. Archived from the original on May 22, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
  14. ^ Bowman, Mark (May 21, 2016). "Birthday wish: Continue to dominate dish". MLB.com. Archived from the original on May 23, 2016. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  15. ^ Eddy, Matt (June 6, 2016). "Minor League Transactions: May 27-June 2". Baseball America. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
  16. ^ "Braves recall De La Cruz to make debut against Indians". ESPN.com. Associated Press. June 29, 2016. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  17. ^ Bowman, Mark; James, Pat (June 29, 2016). "De La Cruz battles, but Braves fall short". MLB.com. Archived from the original on July 1, 2016. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  18. ^ Cunningham, Michael (July 31, 2016). "'Utility pitcher' De La Cruz helps Braves beat Phils". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
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