Luis Cruz

Luis Alfonso Cruz (born February 10, 1984) is a Mexican former professional baseball infielder who is currently a radio broadcaster for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Milwaukee Brewers, Dodgers, and New York Yankees, and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Chiba Lotte Marines, Yomiuri Giants, and Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.

Professional baseball career

Boston Red Sox Cruz was originally signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent on August 29, 2000. He played in the rookie leagues with the Gulf Coast Red Sox in 2001 and for 21 games in 2002 before he was promoted to the Class-A Augusta Greenjackets to finish the 2002 season. He hit .268 in 74 rookie league games and .188 with the Greenjackets.

San Diego Padres On December 16, 2002, Cruz was traded to the San Diego Padres in exchange for César Crespo. He played for the Padres organization through 2007, with the Fort Wayne Wizards (129 games in 2003), Lake Elsinore Storm (124 games in 2004), Mobile BayBears (44 games in 2005, 130 games in 2006), San Antonio Missions (69 games in 2007) and Portland Beavers (45 games in 2007). In 2005, he was loaned to the Diablos Rojos del México on the Mexican League for past of the season and also played for the Mayos de Navojoa of the Mexican Pacific League after the season, reaching the championship series, where he hit .375. He had 15 hits in 67 at-bats for the Pirates in 2008, a .224 batting average.

Though he began the 2009 season on the Pirates major league roster, Cruz was reassigned to Triple-A in mid-April to make room for second baseman Delwyn Young, recently acquired in a trade. He was called back up on July 10. He appeared in a total of 27 games for the Pirates, hitting .214 Cruz played the entire 2010 season with the Triple-A Nashville Sounds (hitting .281 in 129 games)

Texas Rangers Cruz signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers on March 28, one day after his release by the Brewers. He was called up to the Dodgers on July 2, 2012 when the Dodgers shortstop, Dee Gordon, was injured. The following day he stole home after doubling in a game against the Cincinnati Reds. He hit his first Major League home run on July 20 against Johan Santana of the New York Mets. Cruz remained in the starting lineup the rest of the season, first at shortstop and then switching over to third base when the Dodgers acquired Hanley Ramírez. Cruz's underdog success during 2012 led the home crowds at Dodger Stadium to chant "Cruuuuuz" when he came up to bat and the Dodgers began selling his replica jersey in the gift shop. During the 2012 season, he played in 78 games for the Dodgers and hit .297 with six home runs and 40 RBI. but hit poorly and wound up as a seldom used utility infielder. In 45 games, he hit only .127 with three extra base hits. On July 2, he declined an assignment to AAA and became a free agent.

New York Yankees On July 3, 2013, Cruz signed with the New York Yankees. He played in just 16 games for the Yankees, hitting .182 The Yankees designated him for assignment on August 16 and he was released the following day. He would spend two years with the club, leading the team in home runs in 2014 with 16 and hitting 16 more in the 2015 season. In 2016 with the Giants, Cruz played in 81 games, batting .252 with 11 home runs and 37 RBIs. In 13 games, he batted .162.

Mexican League On February 1, 2018, Cruz signed with the Diablos Rojos del México of the Mexican Baseball League, where he hit .307 in 23 games. where, in 91 games, he hit .320/.363/.623 with 27 home runs, 72 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. but he returned to Tijuana for the 2021 season, where he played in 52 games and hit .312/.320/.427 with six home runs and 31 RBI. He did not play during the 2022 season but was activated off the reserve list on May 27, 2023. He spent the entire year on the reserve list and did not appear in a game during the 2024 season.

Broadcasting career On November 15, 2024, the Los Angeles Dodgers announced that Cruz would serve as an analyst for its Spanish-language radio broadcasts on KTNQ beginning in the 2025 season.