Bryan Starling De La Cruz (born December 16, 1996) is a Dominican professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League East, East Division. The ...

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

, and

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

. De La Cruz signed with the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

as an international

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 2013, and made his MLB debut in 2021 with the Marlins.

Career

Houston Astros

De La Cruz signed with the

organization as an international free agent on September 24, 2013, for a $170,000

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. He spent his professional debut season with the

Dominican Summer League Astros The Dominican Summer League Astros, or DSL Astros, is a minor league baseball team of the Dominican Summer League, and a Rookie-level affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Boca Chica, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. From 2014 ...

, hitting 262/.387/.317 with one

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

and 22

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

(RBI). His 2015 season was spent with the

Gulf Coast League Astros The Florida Complex League Astros are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Houston Astros, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to the 2021 season, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Astros. The team plays it ...

, hitting .242/.313/.268 with 12 RBI. He split the 2016 season between the

Greeneville Astros The Greeneville Astros were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Rookie League, Rookie-level Appalachian League from 2004 to 2017. They represented the town of Greeneville, Tennessee, though Pioneer Park (stadium), Pioneer Park, their h ...

and the

Tri-City ValleyCats The Tri-City ValleyCats are a professional baseball team based in Albany, New York. The ValleyCats compete in the Frontier League (FL) as a member of the North Division in the Atlantic Conference. The team was established in 2002, along with the ...

, hitting a combined .239/.331/.396 with three home runs and 18 RBI. He split the 2017 season between Tri-City, the

Quad Cities River Bandits The Quad Cities River Bandits are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. Their home games are played at Modern Woodmen Park (formerly John O'Donnell Stadium) in Davenport, Iowa, on ...

and the

Corpus Christi Hooks The Corpus Christi Hooks are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Corpus Christi, Texas, and are named for the city's association with fishing. The team is owned b ...

, hitting a combined .244/.290/.335 with two home runs and 21 RBI. In the 2018 season, De La Cruz played for Quad Cities and the

Buies Creek Astros The Fayetteville Woodpeckers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and play their home games at Segra Stadium. From 2017 to 201 ...

, hitting a combined .289/.367/.375 with two home runs and 62 RBI. De La Cruz split the 2019 season between the

Fayetteville Woodpeckers The Fayetteville Woodpeckers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and play their home games at Segra Stadium. From 2017 to 201 ...

and Corpus Christi, hitting a combined .280/.340/.428 with eight home runs and 43 RBI. De La Cruz did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the Minor League Baseball season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He opened the 2021 season with the

Sugar Land Skeeters The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros Major League Baseball club. They are located in Sugar Land, Texas, part of the G ...

, hitting .324/.362/.518 with 12 home runs and 50 RBI over 66 games with them.

Miami Marlins

On July 28, 2021, the Astros traded De La Cruz and

Austin Pruitt Austin Daniel Pruitt (born August 31, 1989) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays, Houston Astros, Miami Marlins, and Texas Rangers (baseba ...

to the

in exchange for

Yimi García Yimi García (; born August 18, 1990) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Miami Marlins, Houston Astros, and Seattle M ...

. On July 30, Miami selected his contract and promoted him to the major leagues. He made his MLB debut that night against the

. On August 13, De La Cruz hit his first career grand slam off of

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

starter

Adbert Alzolay Adbert Marcelo Alzolay ( ; born March 1, 1995) is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher in the New York Mets organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs. He made his MLB debut in 2019. Career C ...

. In 58 games during his rookie campaign, he batted .296 with five home runs and 19 RBI. De La Cruz made the Marlins'

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent year ...

roster for the 2022 season. He played in a 115 games for Miami during the season, slashing .252/.294/.432 with 13 home runs and 43 RBI. De La Cruz made 153 appearances for the Marlins during the 2023 campaign, batting .257/.304/.411 with career–highs in home runs (19) and RBI (78). De La Cruz played in 105 contests for Miami in 2024, hitting .245/.289/.417 with 18 home runs, 51 RBI, and three stolen bases. At the time of his trade, he was the Marlins' season leader in home runs and RBI.

Pittsburgh Pirates

On July 30, 2024, the Marlins traded De La Cruz to the

in exchange for Jun-Seok Shim and Garret Forrester. In 44 games for Pittsburgh, he slashed .200/.220/.294 with three home runs, 17 RBI, and two stolen bases. On November 22, the Pirates non–tendered De La Cruz, making him a free agent.

Atlanta Braves

On December 15, 2024, De La Cruz signed a one–year, major league contract with the

. De La Cruz made 16 appearances for Atlanta in 2025, batting .191/.240/.213 with one stolen base.

New York Yankees

On May 1, 2025, De La Cruz was claimed off waivers by the

and assigned to the

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, often abbreviated to SWB RailRiders, are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They are located in Moosic, Pen ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:De La Cruz, Bryan 1996 births Living people Baseball players from Santo Domingo Province Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic 21st-century Dominican Republic sportsmen Major League Baseball outfielders Miami Marlins players Pittsburgh Pirates players Atlanta Braves players Dominican Summer League Astros players Gulf Coast Astros players Gwinnett Stripers players Greeneville Astros players Tri-City ValleyCats players Quad Cities River Bandits players Buies Creek Astros players Fayetteville Woodpeckers players Corpus Christi Hooks players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders players Sugar Land Skeeters players Toros del Este players