Omar Alejandro Cruz (born January 26, 1999) is a Mexican 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 ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

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).

Career

San Diego Padres

Cruz signed with the

as an international free agent on July 3, 2017. He made his professional debut in 2018 with the

Rookie-level Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National L ...

Arizona League Padres The Arizona Complex League Padres or ACL Padres are a Minor League Baseball team based in Peoria, Arizona. The Padres compete in the Arizona Complex League as a rookie-level affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The team plays its home games at Peor ...

and was promoted to the

Tri-City Dust Devils The Tri-City Dust Devils are a Minor League Baseball team based in Pasco, Washington. The Dust Devils are members of the Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Northwestern United States ...

of the Low–A

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseba ...

in July. Over 11 games (ten starts) with the two clubs, he pitched to a 1–1 record with a 1.91 ERA, striking out 59 batters over innings. Cruz returned to Tri-City to begin the 2019 season before he was promoted to the

Fort Wayne TinCaps The Fort Wayne TinCaps are a Minor League Baseball team based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The TinCaps compete in the Midwest League as the High-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The team plays its home games at Parkview Field. The TinCaps won the ...

of the Single–A

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

. He compiled a combined 2–3 record and 2.73 ERA over 12 starts, striking out 76 over 56 innings. Cruz did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league 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 ...

Pittsburgh Pirates

On January 19, 2021, Cruz (alongside David Bednar,

Drake Fellows Below are the rosters of the minor league affiliates of the Pittsburgh Pirates: Players Jase Bowen Jase Callaway Bowen (born September 2, 2000) is an American professional baseball outfielder in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. Bowen attend ...

, Hudson Head, and

Endy Rodríguez Endy Steven Rodríguez (born May 26, 2000) is a Dominican professional baseball catcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023. Career New York Mets Rodríguez signed with the New York Mets as an ...

) was traded to 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 ...

in a three team deal that also sent

Joe Musgrove Joseph Anthony Musgrove (born December 4, 1992) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Houston Astros and Pittsburgh Pirates. Musgrove was born i ...

to the Padres and

Joey Lucchesi Joseph George Lucchesi (''loo-kay-see''; born June 6, 1993) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the San Diego Padres and New York Mets. He m ...

to the

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

. To begin the 2021 season, he was assigned to the

Greensboro Grasshoppers The Greensboro Grasshoppers are a Minor League Baseball team based in Greensboro, North Carolina. They are members of the South Atlantic League and are the High-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They play their home games at First National B ...

of the

High-A East The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its hi ...

. After seven starts in which he went 3–3 with a 3.45 ERA and 38 strikeouts over innings, he was promoted to the

Altoona Curve The Altoona Curve are a Minor League Baseball team based in Altoona, Pennsylvania, named after nearby Horseshoe Curve (but also alluding to the curveball, a type of pitch). The team plays in the Eastern League and is the Double-A affiliate of ...

of the Double-A Northeast. Over 14 starts with Altoona, he went 3–4 with a 3.44 ERA over innings. He returned to Altoona for the 2022 season. Over 23 games (five starts), Cruz posted a 3–3 record with a 5.03 ERA and 69 strikeouts over innings.

San Diego Padres (second stint)

On December 6, 2023, Cruz was selected by the

in the minor league phase of the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

. He made 34 appearances split between the Double–A

San Antonio Missions The San Antonio Missions are a Minor League Baseball team based in San Antonio, Texas. The Missions compete in the Texas League as the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The team plays its home games at Nelson W. W ...

and Triple–A

El Paso Chihuahuas The El Paso Chihuahuas are a Minor League Baseball team based in El Paso, Texas. The Chihuahuas compete in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) as the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The team plays its home games at Sou ...

, compiling a 6–2 record and 3.96 ERA with 118 strikeouts across innings pitched. On November 19, 2024, the Padres added Cruz to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. Cruz was initially optioned to Triple-A El Paso to begin the 2025 season. However, on March 27, 2025, it was announced that Cruz had made San Diego's

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.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Omar 1999 births Living people Altoona Curve players Arizona League Padres players Baseball players from Hermosillo El Paso Chihuahuas players Fort Wayne TinCaps players Greensboro Grasshoppers players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Mexico Naranjeros de Hermosillo players San Antonio Missions players San Diego Padres players Surprise Saguaros players Tri-City Dust Devils players