Atlanta Braves Minor League Spotlight: Jasseel De La Cruz’s season full of progress
The last two outings have featured scoreless starts for Mississippi’s Jasseel De La Cruz. Let’s look into his breakthrough 2019 campaign.
I’d say it’s been a busy season for the Atlanta Braves No. 12 prospect (rankings by FanGraphs), starting pitcher Jasseel De La Cruz. To be more accurate: It has been a busy but also highly productive season for the 22-year-old righty.
Starting the 2019 season in Single-A Rome, it wasn’t long before Cruz earned a promotion up to Florida (High-A). In just 4 starts with the Rome Braves, Cruz tallied 18 innings-pitched and struck out 22 batters, flashing a 2.50 ERA.
Yes, it was a small-sample, but Cruz had been there before, coming off a 2018 season in which he totaled 13 starts and two relief appearances for the Braves’ Sally League team. He was ready for a bigger challenge.
On April 28, Cruz made his debut for the Florida Fire Frogs, tossing 6 innings of two-hit ball and allowed just a single run. The 6’1″ Cruz struck out six in that initial start against the St. Lucie Mets.
Fast-forward three starts later. On May 18, during a start versus the Jupiter Hammerheads (Marlins’ affiliate), Cruz had the outing of his life, laboring through a no-hitter. Like he’s been all season, Cruz was a ground ball machine that night, pitching to weak contact for 9 innings as he only struck out four in that hitless start.
As you would imagine, that performance against the Hammerheads earned Cruz a promotion, his third team of the 2019 season. Like I said, the man has been busy.
Mississippi Balling
Double-A ball of course came with its challenges. After making eight-straight starts between Rome and Florida without allowing more than three runs in a given outing, Cruz surrendered four runs in his Mississippi debut, lasting just 5 innings and walking three, including one hit-batter.
Cruz followed that first outing up with a 2-homer start the next week, though he struck out eight and only walked two, even earning his first win. He was quickly learning that it may not always be pretty, but now having reached the upper minors, results are what matter most.
Cruz went on to toss six-straight starts with at least 6 innings-pitched, with a relief appearance mixed in between.
During that 32.1-inning stretch, Cruz started to settle in nicely in Mississippi. He allowed 4 runs in one start, three in another, one run in three separate outings and pitched one scoreless start (plus a scoreless relief appearance), all good for a 2.80 ERA in that span (June 4 – July 7).
His final start during that 6-start run, featured perhaps the most dominant outing of his career (other than his no-hitter). On July 7, Cruz punched out 10 against Biloxi, tossing six scoreless innings and only allowing 4 hits. He walked just two and the 10 strikeouts were a season-high for Cruz.
It has been a bit of an up-and-down month for Cruz since then as Mississippi has lost several of their most valuable players (both pitchers and hitters) to promotions. In his last 6 starts, Cruz has pitched six innings or more just once, a 7-inning outing on July 31 (7 H, 3 ER, 1 K).
Despite less innings and fewer strikeouts of late, Cruz has still been excellent in terms of run prevention and… well, he hasn’t allowed much of anything in his last 10 innings-pitched (2 starts):
- Aug. 14: 5 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 4 K
- Aug. 19: 5 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 5 K
Like I said above, sometimes they aren’t pretty, but the results are what matter. And even though Cruz hasn’t been piling up the punchouts, he’s consistently found a way to get the upper hand on hitters.
Improved his ETA
In a season where several Braves’ prospects have made huge strides, climbing the organizational ladder and reaching new heights, Cruz has quietly put together an exceptional 2019 season.
Overall, across all three minor league levels, Cruz has pitched to a 3.21 ERA in 123.1 innings-pitched (22 starts and 1 relief appearances). Furthermore, at all three stops, Cruz has prevented the long ball while maintaining strong K/BB rates:
- 8 HR allowed
- 8.5 K/9, 3.3 BB/9
This has already been a career-year for Cruz. The Dominican has soared through the Atlanta Braves prospect rankings, moving up 15 spots since last season’s midseason prospect list by FanGraphs (No. 27 in 2018, to No. 12 this season).
Cruz has set himself up nicely for the 2020 season. With the amount of progress he’s made in 2019, we may see him a year sooner than once projected (in 2018, Cruz was projected to arrive to the big leagues in 2021).
Next. Another Catcher is Coming. dark
An organization filled to the brim with elite pitching prospects, Cruz has established himself and adds yet another talented and exciting option for the Atlanta Braves. In fact, we could see Cruz sometime next season.