Jesus Cruz #54

Resides in Salinas de Hidalgo, San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

2021

Ranked among organizational leaders in appearances (37, 9th), saves (3, T-9th), games finished (13, T-11th), ERA (3.06, 9th), and HR/9 (0.3, 9th)... Twenty-six of his 37 outings were scoreless... Allowed five runs in his first four appearances (3.1 IP), then logged 1.97 ERA (32.0 IP) over his final 33 games to end the season... Of his 29 hits allowed over 35.1 innings, just five went for extra bases (one homer and four doubles) for a .277 opponent's slugging pct... Limited opposing right-handers to .210/.323/.272 (17-81) mark with a .595 OPS.

2020

Made his Major League debut at Wrigley Field at CHI (8/18) allowing two runs on three hits with two strikeouts in a game the Cardinals lost 6-3...Stranded the bases loaded by striking out Kyle Schwarber with two outs in the 6th inning for his first batter faced...Faced five batters and allowed three two-strike hits...Became the first player in history to wear No. 86 in a Major League game...Made six appearances in the Mexican Winter League with a 5.40 ERA over 5.0 innings.

2019

Made a career-high 52 appearances between Springfield (AA) and Memphis (AAA) posting a 6-6 record with a 6.02 ERA ... Led all Cardinals minor league pitchers with 52 appearances and eight Holds (T1st); ranked T15th in strikeouts despite making all relief appearances ... Averaged 13.1 strikeouts/9 IP ... Participated in early workouts and seminars as part of the Cardinals Spring Traning Early Program (S.T.E.P. camp) ... Began the season in Springfield, striking out 10 batters over 3.2 innings in two appearances before a promotion to Memphis ... Did not allow a run in nine straight appearances (10.2 IP) from 8/3-23 ... Pitched on consecutive days five times.

2018

Ranked 10th among Cardinals minor league pitchers with 104 strikeouts and 9th in strikeouts/9 IP (11.0) ... Threw a season and career-high 7.0 IP at Tampa (7/29) ... Struck out a career-high nine batters three times during the season (vs. Burlington 7/4, vs. Lakeland 8/9 & vs. Tampa 8/14) ... Was utilized as a starting pitcher from June 6 through the end of the season (15 starts).

2017

Made 13 appearances in the Mexican League for Monterrey before he was signed as an International Free Agent by the Cardinals on July 2 ... Appeared in games with the Dominican Summer League (R), Gulf Coast League (R), finishing at State College (A) ... Struck out a season-high five batters in his first appearance with the Cardinals vs. the DSL Twins (7/19) ... Did not allow a home run in his first professional season to 73 total batters faced.