Trei Cruz

It’s hard to have better baseball bloodlines than that of the Cruz family, both at Rice and in the majors. Cruz’s grandfather, Jose Cruz Sr., played 19 years in the major leagues. His father Jose Cruz Jr. played 12 years in the majors after starring at Rice. Now Cruz (named Trei because he’s Jose Cruz III) has a chance to follow in their footsteps. Cruz has already been drafted twice, first by the Astros in the 35th round out of high school and the Nationals in the 37th round last year as a draft-eligible sophomore. Cruz has played second base, third base and shortstop in college. Some evaluators see his lack of foot speed as limiting him to second or third base as a pro, but a team confident in its player development may believe it can improve Cruz’s poor footwork. His hands are excellent and his plus arm gives him the ability to make the spectacular play. He struggles to consistently make the routine play, however, and sometimes gets caught in between hops. A switch-hitter, Cruz is very aggressive at the plate. He has plus raw power, especially from the left side, although his in-game power production so far has been modest. Cruz has a solid track record as a hitter both at Rice (.296/.405/.482 in three seasons) and last summer in the Cape Cod League (.307/.384/.429). As a switch-hitter who should be at worst an above-average defender at second base, Cruz should slide into the late third or fourth round.