Cruz announced his retirement from baseball Thursday.
After 19 seasons in the big leagues, the 43-year-old Cruz has officially decided to hang up his cleats. The seven-time All-Star spent time with eight organizations throughout his career, racking up 2,053 hits and 464 homers.
Cruz had been designated for assignment a week ago after batting just .245/.283/.399 with a 30.3 percent strikeout rate across 49 games. This was after the 43-year-old produced just a .234/.313/.337 slash line in 2022. It's possible this is the end of the line for the seven-time All-Star.
Cruz was designated for assignment by the Padres on Tuesday.
Cruz signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Padres over the winter and was getting fairly regular starts in the DH role, but he has suddenly been dropped from the 40-man roster after ultimately slashing just .245/.283/.399 with five homers and 23 RBI across 49 games. Rougned Odor looks poised for an uptick in playing time as part of the fallout from this move. He is at third base Tuesday with Manny Machado taking a turn as the DH.
Cruz is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Pirates.
Cruz had started at designated hitter in five of the previous seven games, but four came versus left-handed pitchers and the other came against a right-handed opener in Ryan Walker, who worked just one inning for the Giants that day. Now on the bench for the second straight game versus a right-hander (Luis Ortiz) after he sat out against righty Mitch Keller on Wednesday, Cruz still appears to be stuck in the short-side platoon role at designated hitter that he's handled all season. While Matt Carpenter has lost hold of the strong-side role due to his ongoing struggles at the plate, the Padres have turned to another left-handed hitter in Rougned Odor to replace him.
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Padres' Nelson Cruz: On bench Wednesday
Rotowire
Cruz is not in the lineup Wednesday versus the Pirates.
Matt Carpenter will handle the DH role and bat eighth as the Padres square off against the Pirates and right-hander Mitch Keller. Cruz has picked it up in recent weeks and is drawing the majority of starts at DH, but the veteran slugger holds a relatively underwhelming .250/.291/.417 season slash line.
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Player Bio
HT/WT: 6-2, 230 lbs
Birthplace: Las Matas de Santa Cruz, Dominican Republic
