Oscar De La Cruz #49

Oscar Eduardo De La Cruz spent eight seasons in the Cubs organization after signing with the club as a non-drafted free agent at the age of 17...Signed by the Chicago Cubs as a non-drafted free agent on October 1, 2012...Placed on the restricted list on July 6, 2018... Served an 80-game suspension for violating MLB's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program...Signed by the New York Mets as a minor league free agent on November 4, 2020.

2020

Did not pitch due to the cancellation of the minor league season...Made one appearance in the Dominican Winter League for Estrellas de Oriente...Allowed a home run in 0.1 inning with one strikeout.

2019

Oscar went 5-5 with a 3.64 ERA (39 ER/96.1 IP) in 34 outings, including 11 starts, between Single-A Myrtle Beach and Double-A Tennessee ... marked his first campaign as primarily a relief pitcher ... Began the season as a starter before pitching exclusively in relief beginning June 21 ... with Tennessee, had a 3.86 ERA (16 ER/37.1 IP) as a reliever and a 4.30 ERA (21 ER/44.0 IP) in eight starts ... Made three starts with Myrtle Beach to begin the season, allowing two earned runs in 15.0 innings of work. 

2018

Oscar made his first appearance at the Double-A level, going 6-7 with a 5.24 ERA (45 ER/77.1 IP) in 16 games, including one complete game ... Pitched 7.0-scoreless innings May 26 at Pensacola, allowing just five hits and striking out seven ... Struck out a season-high 10 batters in 5.2-scoreless innings, May 5 vs. Birmingham ... Was suspended 80 games on July 6 for violating Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program ... missed the remainder of the season.

2017

Oscar went 4-3 with a 3.46 ERA (21 ER/54.2 IP) in 12 starts with Single-A Myrtle Beach, his first appearance at the high-A level ... also made one rehab appearance with rookie league Mesa, tossing 2.0-scoreless innings... Was placed on the disabled list, May 30, with a chest injury ... was activated, August 24, after a rehab outing with Mesa... Tossed a 7.0-inning complete game shutout, May 14 vs. Lynchburg ... allowed just five hits and walked none... Went 3-0 with a 2.63 ERA (7 ER/24.0 IP) in four May starts prior to his injury.

2016

Limited to just nine games after beginning the season on the disabled list ... made his season debut July 13 ... went a combined 1-3 with a 3.00 ERA (13 ER/39.0 IP) between Mesa, Single-A Eugene and Single-A South Bend... Made six starts with South Bend, going 1-2 with a 3.25 ERA (10 ER/27.2 IP) ... struck out 35 batters while walking eight ... did not allow a homer... Named Midwest League Pitcher of the Week for August 8-14 after tossing 5.0-scoreless innings... Allowed just one earned run in 8.1 innings across two starts with Eugene.

2015

In his first season in the United States, he went 6-3 with a 2.84 ERA (23 ER/73.0 IP) in 13 starts with Single-A Eugene ... earned mid-season and year-end All-Star honors as he tied or set team-highs in wins, innings pitched and strikeouts (73)... Held the opponent to one or zero runs in seven of his 13 outings... Named the Cubs Minor League Pitcher of the Month for August after going 3-1 with a 2.73 ERA (9 ER/29.2 IP) in five starts ... he also earned Northwest League pitcher of the week honors for August 24-30 after striking out a career-high 13 batters in 7.0 innings, August 26 vs. Spokane.

2014

Pitched a career-high 75.0 innings with the DSL Cubs, going 8-1 with a 1.80 ERA (15 ER/75.0 IP) in 14 starts .... allowed one or zero earned runs in each of his first nine starts.

2013

Oscar made his pro debut with the DSL Cubs, appearing in four games, including one start ... went 1-0 with a 6.55 ERA (8 ER/11.0 IP).