Ryan Garcia
Yovanny Cruz looks like one of the most electric arms in Spring Training right now, and the Yankees were able to find him on the Minor League free agent market.
Spending all of last year in Double-A, he struggled with command and the Red Sox chose not to retain him for the upcoming 2026 season, but the Yankees might have stumbled into a stud.
Sitting 100 MPH with a disgusting bullet slider, Cruz has ripped through Major League caliber hitters in his outings and could be a nice solution for this bullpen in the second half of the season.
The Yankees are an excellent pitching development organization, and Yovanny Cruz could be their latest hidden gem with his insane pitch quality.
READ MORE: Yankees manager offers important Carlos Rodon update
Why Yovanny Cruz Is Must-Watch TV in the Yankees’ Bullpen
This kind of premium velocity isn’t exactly new for Yovanny Cruz, who sat in the upper-90s and could hit 100 multiple times in an outing, but he’s seemed to gain a tick or two on that pitch.
Rather than sitting in the upper-90s, Cruz is hovering around 100 MPH while hitting 101 and 102 MPH repeatedly in his first two outings this Spring Training.
His command is not great despite not issuing a walk yet and attacking the zone fairly often throughout these two outings, small sample size location analysis is incredibly unreliable, but I think there’s true closer upside here.
Everyone will (understandably) focus on the heat, but the pitch that has caught my eye the most is his slider which has elite level vertical drop at 88-90 MPH.
The fastball shape is pretty bad but the velocity allows it to play up in the zone, if he can keep developing feel for that slider though then he will end up being a very nice reliever in the big leagues.
His breaking ball works well against lefties and righties, whether he is able to command this pitch or not remains to be seen but it has a chance to be an extremely high-whiff pitch for him.
I also think there’s a changeup he can mix-in more, but just having the fastball-slider combination will work as well because there’s overwhelming velocity and elite breaking ball potential there.
Jake Bird and Brent Headrick have really impressed me so far in Spring Training, but Yovanny Cruz has a real shot to be the best guy in this group if he keeps progressing in the Minor League season.
More about:New York Yankees
