Looking to bolster their bullpen this offseason, the Yankees made a trade with a National League Central club for a key late-inning reliever who throws an elite offspeed pitch.
In other news, they acquired Devin Williams, too.
That’s right: There’s another pitcher who fits that description, and he’s been one of the nastiest relievers in the Major Leagues, let alone on the Yanks.
Meet Fernando Cruz, the 35-year-old breakout star with MLB’s best splitter -- a pitch he calls “a gift from God.” That description might sound awfully familiar to Yankees fans. It’s the same way former Bronx Bombers closer Mariano Rivera referred to the devastating cutter that fueled his remarkable Hall of Fame career.
Cruz himself is a lifelong fan of the Yankees, and after getting a chance to live out a dream by putting on the pinstripes, he has honed the rest of his arsenal to mold himself into a crucial piece of New York’s talented relief corps.
“He’s a big integral piece for us now in that bullpen,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “He’s thrown the ball exceptionally well from the jump.”
Here’s what has made Cruz -- and his signature splitter -- so special in 2025.
All stats below are through Thursday.
‘A dream come true’
Being drafted as a shortstop at age 17 back in 2007. Converting to the mound four years later. Going in and out of independent ball and the Mexican League. Finally making his Major League debut at age 32.
Cruz’s path to MLB stardom has been anything but conventional, and he knows it. He meditates and prays daily, happy to be where he is. Sitting at his locker before the Yankees’ series opener in early May in West Sacramento, Cruz expressed his appreciation for the chance to play a key role for his favorite team.
“Every day I’m really grateful for where I am and what I’m doing and what has happened for me to be able to get here and be with all these guys, with all these stars,” he said. “I’m really humble and really happy where I am.”
Need proof? Cruz, his wife, Omaley, and their three kids were enjoying food and games at a Dave and Buster’s in December when Cruz got the news: He was a Yankee.
“We almost closed the place,” he said. “We went crazy. We were really excited. For a moment, it was a sweet and sour moment because we love Cincinnati and we are really grateful for them, but at the same time, it was the beginning of making a dream come true.”
'Ochenta y cinco'
At 34 years old, Cruz was where he wanted to be. But to become the pitcher he wanted to be, there was still work to be done.
That’s where the Yankees came in. Pitching coach Matt Blake and bullpen coach Mike Harkey knew what they had in Cruz: a high-strikeout hurler prone to command issues. While Cruz fanned 207 hitters in 132 2/3 innings from 2023-24 with the Reds, he had a 4.88 ERA with 63 walks.
For six weeks in Spring Training, Blake and Harkey worked to fine-tune Cruz’s delivery and overhaul his arsenal. The Yankees coaches axed a cutter that got poor results (.333 BA, .765 SLG) in 2024, added a sinker and a slider (which are still a work in progress) and made tweaks to Cruz’s four-seam fastball.
They didn’t touch his splitter. They didn’t have to.
“That’s something that is a gift from above, a gift from God,” Cruz said. “That’s nothing that anyone can tell, ‘I teach you this, I teach you that.’”
Cruz still learned a valuable lesson. It was easy to see his issue with the Reds: putting maximum effort into every single pitch, resulting in impressive velocity but poor control.
“I had one plan, and it was just throwing it as hard as I can,” Cruz said.
Now, a simple phrase in Spanish does the trick. Whenever Harkey feels like Cruz is getting off track, he hollers “ochenta y cinco” in the right-hander’s direction.
Cruz knows what Harkey’s message means: “Try 85 percent.”
“You have the power, you have everything you need to get people out with 85 percent,” Cruz said. “You don’t need 90. You don’t need 95.”
That isn’t always an easy thing to adjust to, but it’s paying major dividends for Cruz.
The average velocities of his four-seamer and splitter have both declined about 1 mph from 2024, allowing the rest of his game to take off.
‘I don’t know how to explain it’
Another important number for Cruz? 56.7 percent. That’s his splitter usage rate this season, a sizable increase from how much he threw the pitch in 2024 (41.7 percent).
Going to the splitter more is a big reason why Cruz’s overall whiff rate has soared to 48.4 percent, the second highest of any pitcher this season (min. 100 swings). Only one pitcher -- the Guardians’ Hunter Gaddis -- has increased his whiff rate from 2024 to 2025 more than Cruz (+10.2 percentage points).
On his splitter specifically? Cruz’s 57.7 percent whiff rate is the second highest of any pitch type in MLB (minimum 50 swings).
Highest whiff rate on single pitch type, 2025
Minimum 50 swings on that pitch
- Brendon Little’s knuckle curve: 63.9%
- Fernando Cruz’s splitter: 57.7%
- Andrés Muñoz’s slider: 55.7%
- Griffin Jax's changeup: 54.9%
- Hunter Greene’s slider: 53.7%
A splitter Harkey previously called “the best I’ve ever seen” has been one of the most unhittable pitches in MLB, and not even Cruz is sure how he does it.
“It’s a pitch that I work on a lot,” said Cruz, who has racked up 30 strikeouts in 58 plate appearances (51.7 percent) ending on the filthy offspeed offering. “I don’t know how to explain it. I don’t have any explanation for the movement of the pitch or the depth or whatever.”
Whatever it is, it’s working. So is Cruz’s four-seamer, on which he’s allowing just a .143 average with a 50 percent whiff rate. The righty’s Statcast page is lit up in red, and that’s always a good thing.
Cruz’s Statcast quality-of-contact metrics, 2025
Entering Friday
- Expected ERA: 2.40 (93rd percentile)
- Expected batting average: .184 (96th percentile)
- Avg. exit velocity: 84.3 mph (98th percentile)
A combination of his natural talent and the changes the Yankees made has brought out the best in Cruz so far this season.
“We have something really good going on,” Cruz said. “I think they are doing a great job taking my full potential out, and I’m really happy.”
Playing a big role
The Yankees are happy, too.
Especially with Williams (7.80 ERA) struggling in his first season in the Bronx, the Yanks have relied on Cruz to play a bigger part than they first expected -- and he has delivered.
He has reprised the late-inning role he played for the Reds over the past two seasons, but he’s halved his ERA while maintaining an elite strikeout rate. Entering Saturday, Cruz has a 2.42 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 22 1/3 innings -- plus seven holds and the first two saves of his career.
“I knew that he would be a huge part of what we’re doing here, and he’s definitely shown that,” Yankees reliever Luke Weaver said. “It’s nice to have someone who has the ability to do so many things out there in different roles and obviously has an elite pitch.”
Weaver spent time with the Reds in 2023 and got to know Cruz that season. He knows firsthand how good Cruz’s standout splitter can be, insisting the pitch speaks for itself -- and lives up to the hype.
“The only opinion that matters is the results, and the results are saying it does,” Weaver said.
That has certainly been true in 2025. But even though Cruz is on top of his game, there’s more he wants to accomplish: further cementing his command, perfecting the shapes of his pitches and improving his two new offerings.
“You can never be complacent on what you’re doing,” Cruz said. “You’re happy, but you’re not completely complacent because this is a game of adjustment.”
That’s nothing new for Cruz, who made the biggest adjustment of his career back in 2011 when he made the move from shortstop to the mound. It’s been quite the journey, but nearly 15 years later, Cruz is pitching for his “dream team” -- and excelling in a pivotal role.
“It’s been an unbelievable six, seven months now,” he said. “I just couldn’t ask for a better place to be.”