Yankees' Yovanny Cruz catches eyes in MLB debut

Yankees' Yovanny Cruz catches eyes in MLB debut originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The New York Yankees' bullpen has struggled this season, and they're looking from a spark anywhere they can find it.

They might've found it with Yovanny Cruz, who made his MLB debut on Wednesday night against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Cruz faced six hitters and retired them all in order. He also struck out three of them.

The righty's fastball averaged 99.8 miles per hour and touched 100.9 MPH.

He threw 13 of his 15 pitches for strikes.

After eight seasons in the Minors, Yovanny Cruz made an impression in his MLB debut. Six up, six down, with three strikeouts. Fastball averaged 99.8 mph, touched 100.9 mph.— Bryan Hoch ⚾️ (@BryanHoch) May 21, 2026

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The 6-foot tall, 26-year old Cruz has traveled a long minor league journey to get to this point.

He signed with the Chicago Cubs as a teenager out of the Dominican Republic but toiled in the low levels of the minors through the 2023 season. 

He didn't get his first chance at Double-A until 2024 in the Padres organization, then repeated that level in 2025 in the Red Sox system.

Cruz signed with the Yankees this offseason, and this spring was his Triple-A debut. With Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, he had a 3.00 ERA in 18.0 innings with 23 strikeouts.

That was enough for the Yankees to give him a promotion to the majors, and as far as first impressions go, Cruz made a great one.

As a journeyman, he'll have to continue proving himself to keep getting chances. But the Yankees need someone to step up, and maybe it'll be this pitcher that no one would've really expected prior to the season.