TAMPA, Fla. — The Yankees bullpen competition has featured plenty of familiar names this spring. David Bednar, Camilo Doval and Fernando Cruz headline the high-leverage group. Paul Blackburn and Ryan Yarbrough provide length. Kervin Castro, Cade Winquest and Angel Chivilli have been fighting for the remaining spots.
And then, on March 13 afternoon against the Braves, a 26-year-old right-hander that most Yankees fans had never heard of walked to the mound and started throwing 101 mph.
His name is Yovanny Cruz. He signed a minor league deal with the Yankees back in November. It barely registered as a transaction at the time. It is registering now.
A debut that turned heads across camp
Cruz needed just 15 pitches to get through his first Yankees Grapefruit League inning. He did not allow a hit. He did not walk anyone. He struck out two batters. And those two strikeouts came against Matt Olson and Austin Riley, two of the most dangerous hitters in the National League.
His sinker averaged 100.6 mph and topped out at 101.5. He paired it with an 89.8 mph cutter that generated two whiffs. The velocity gap between those two pitches creates a nightmare for hitters trying to time their swings. Fourteen of his 15 pitches were some form of fastball, and professional hitters could not catch up.
In his second outing, Cruz was just as dominant. He averaged 100.3 mph with his four-seamer and touched 101. Through two Grapefruit League appearances, he has thrown two scoreless innings with four strikeouts and zero walks.
Boone puts Cruz in the conversation
The results have not gone unnoticed by the Yankees coaching staff. Manager Aaron Boone told Chris Kirschner of The Athletic that Cruz is technically in the conversation for an Opening Day bullpen spot, even though it remains a long shot.
Boone said Cruz is behind schedule in his ramp-up process because he has only logged two spring outings. Making the Opening Day roster for the trip to San Francisco would be difficult given the limited workload. But Boone made clear the Yankees see Cruz as more than just a spring training curiosity.
“More importantly, he’ll be in the mix over the long haul, too,” Boone said, per Kirschner.
That quote tells Yankees fans everything they need to know about how the Yankees organization views Cruz. He is not a novelty act. He is a pitcher they believe can impact the big league bullpen at some point in 2026, likely in the second half after building up innings in the minors.
The long road to the Yankees
Cruz is not a young prospect climbing the ranks. He has been in professional baseball since 2016, when he signed with the Cubs as a 16-year-old out of San Francisco de Macoris in the Dominican Republic. The journey since then has been anything but smooth.
The pandemic wiped out the 2020 minor league season. In 2021, Cruz’s elbow gave out and he underwent Tommy John surgery, costing him nearly two full years of development. He bounced from the Cubs system to the Padres organization in 2024 before landing with the Red Sox, where he pitched at Double-A Portland last season.
The numbers in Portland told two stories. The good side: a 3.03 ERA with 72 strikeouts in 59.1 innings. The concerning side: 44 walks. That walk rate is the kind of red flag that prevents teams from committing to a pitcher, and it is the reason the Red Sox chose not to retain him after the season. The Yankees swooped in with a minor league deal.
What makes Cruz different now
The Yankees have one of the best pitching development operations in baseball under pitching coach Matt Blake. That is a big part of why the Yankees targeted Cruz. The raw velocity has always been there. What has changed this spring is the pitch mix around it.
Cruz’s sinker has added depth and movement. His bullet slider has gained additional downward action. Combined with the four-seam fastball and changeup, he now has four pitches that play off each other at different speeds and angles. The whiff rate on the cutter in particular has been a standout.
The Yankees are likely to send Cruz to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to open the season. The goal will be to continue building his workload and refining his command. If the walks come down and the stuff holds, the Yankees could have a high-octane bullpen weapon waiting for a mid-season call-up. If not, the investment was nothing more than a minor league contract.
Either way, Yovanny Cruz has gone from anonymous transaction to one of the most talked-about arms in Yankees camp this spring. When a pitcher starts striking out All-Stars at 101 mph, people pay attention. The Yankees certainly are.
What do you think about him?
