Francisco Cruceta
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
|---|---|
| Detroit Tigers — No. 41 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born: July 4, 1981 La Vega, Dominican Republic |
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| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
| September 21, 2004 for the Cleveland Indians | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through June 2, 2008) |
|
| Win–Loss | 0–4 |
| Earned run average | 7.96 |
| Strikeouts | 22 |
| Teams | |
Francisco Alberto Cruceta (born July 4, 1981 in La Vega, Dominican Republic) is a relief pitcher in the Detroit Tigers organization.
[edit] Career
He was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent, on May 20, 1999, but later traded to the Cleveland Indians with Terry Mulholland and Ricardo Rodriguez in exchange for Paul Shuey. Cruceta made his Major League debut for the Indians on September 21, 2004 as the starter for the Indians against the Detroit Tigers. He pitched in one more game, that season this time giving up four runs on five hits in 3⅔ innings on September 26, 2004 in a 6–2 loss to the Minnesota Twins, where Cruceta received the loss.
On August 26, 2005, Cruceta was claimed off waivers by the Seattle Mariners, where he appeared in four games, before he was granted free agency on October 6, 2006, and signed with the Texas Rangers on October 11, 2006.
In 2007, Cruceta was suspended for 50 games at the start of the season for violating the minor league ban on steroids. When he returned though, he performed well for the Triple-A Oklahoma RedHawks, going 3–0 in 25 games, with a 3.02 ERA, while striking out 60 batters in 65⅔ innings. He also pitched well in a winter league stint in the Dominican Winter League for Gigantes del Cibao going 1–1 with a 1.08 ERA. These performances may have lead to him being signed by the Detroit Tigers on November 30, 2007. However, the Tigers have been interested in Cruceta for a while, scout Dick Egan has 4–5 years of reports on Cruceta. [1]
Cruceta was expected to compete for the vacant spots in the Tigers bullpen during spring training 2008, left by Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney after they suffered shoulder injurys. Cruceta's chances of making the Tigers bullpen was dealt a blow when his visa was withheld, allegedly due to his suspension in 2007. After two months of waiting Cruceta was granted his Visa on April 9, allowing for him to come to the U.S. from his native Dominican Republic [2].
After returning to the United States, Cruceta was brought up to the Tigers on April 30, 2008 when Jason Grilli was traded to the Colorado Rockies. On June 3, Cruceta was designated for assignment.
[edit] External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
[edit] References
- ^ http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071201/SPORTS0104/712010318/1004/SPORTS Tigers re-sign Kenny Rogers and sign free agent Cruceta for the bullpen
- ^ The Official Site of The Detroit Tigers: News: Visa application approved for Cruceta
