<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/padres-news-nelson-cruz-oldest-player-ichiro-triple');   ga('set', 'title', 'Padres’ Nelson Cruz joins Ichiro in history books with improbable feat vs. Giants');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Padres-news-Nelson-Cruz-joins-Ichiro-in-history-books-with-improbable-feat-vs-Giants.jpg"></figure><h1>Padres’ Nelson Cruz joins Ichiro in history books with improbable feat vs. Giants</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-05-01T09:21:41-07:00">May 1st, 9:21am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-05-01T09:42:35-07:00">May 1st, 9:42am</time><address><a href="https://joeymistretta.wordpress.com">Joey Mistretta</a>Joey Mistretta is a sports writer/editor who covers multiple sports. Notably, Mistretta covers baseball, basketball, and football. He is originally from a small town in Southern California. Mistretta graduated college with a degree in broadcast journalism from Biola University.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>San Diego Padres veteran Nelson Cruz joined the legendary Ichiro Suzuki in the MLB history books on Sunday against the San Francisco Giants. With the Padres taking on the Giants in the Mexico Series over the weekend, Cruz <a href="https://twitter.com/SlangsOnSports/status/1652774414448984066" rel="noopener">became the oldest player</a> since Ichiro to hit a triple, per Sarah Langs.</p><p>“at 42 years &amp; 303 days old, Nelson Cruz is the oldest player with a triple since Ichiro Suzuki on 9/13/16 at 42 years &amp; 327 days,” Langs wrote on Twitter.</p><p>The Padres ended up <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/padres-news-xander-bogaerts-hot-start-san-diego" rel="noopener">sweeping the two-gam</a>e set over the weekend, winning 16-11 on Saturday and 6-4 on Sunday. Cruz recorded just one hit in Sunday’s victory, but it was an impressive one to say the least. He’s never been known as much of a speed threat during his career, so hitting a triple at 42-years old is incredible. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mariners-news-ichiro-suzuki-delivers-moving-speech-after-seattles-heartwarming-hall-of-fame-tribute" rel="noopener">Ichiro</a>, on the other hand, featured blazing speed during his career. Although recording a triple at 42-years old seems improbable for most players, it wasn’t as shocking when Ichiro accomplished the feat.</p><p>The Padres climbed over the .500 mark with the solid weekend, holding a 15-14 record heading into Monday’s home game against the Cincinnati Reds. San Diego entered the 2023 campaign with sky high expectations given their star-studded lineup. Although things haven’t gone according to plan so far this season, there’s still plenty of time to turn it around. The Padres have no shortage of potential and should be fine moving forward.</p><p>Nelson Cruz and San Diego will look to continue trending in a positive direction against Cincinnati in Monday night’s game.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Padres’ Nelson Cruz joins Ichiro in history books with improbable feat vs. Giants

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/padres-news-nelson-cruz-approaches-barry-bonds-territory-with-latest-slugging-feat');   ga('set', 'title', 'Padres’ Nelson Cruz approaches Barry Bonds territory with latest slugging feat');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Padres-Nelson-Cruz.jpeg"></figure><h1>Padres’ Nelson Cruz approaches Barry Bonds territory with latest slugging feat</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-04-10T05:49:27-07:00">April 10th, 5:49am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-04-10T05:49:27-07:00">April 10th, 5:49am</time><address><a>Sam DiGiovanni</a>Sam DiGiovanni started at ClutchPoints as an associate editor in 2021 and became the site's Philadelphia 76ers beat reporter ahead of the 2022-23 season. He graduated from Marist College in May of 2022 and has written for TheKnicksWall.com and CenterFieldMarist.com in the past.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The San Diego Padres are rolling now. They have won three straight games, including a 10-2 beatdown against the Atlanta Braves that Nelson Cruz played a huge part in.</p><p>Cruz went yard off of Dylan Dodd and drove in six runs in the Padres’ win over the Braves. Since 1920, when RBI became an official stat, Cruz is the <a href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/36141334/padres-nelson-cruz-42-3rd-oldest-get-6-rbis-game" rel="noopener">third oldest player</a> to record six RBIs in a game, trailing only Carlton Fisk and Barry Bonds, according to ESPN. The 42-year-old Cruz was the same age as Bonds, separated by only a few months, while Fisk was 43.</p><p>“It’s nice, especially against the Braves,” the Padres designated hitter said, via ESPN. “They have a really good team, so it shows how deep we are as a team. To win three of four against the Braves tells a lot.”</p><p>The Padres and Cruz are a perfect fit. The team prides itself on its collection of powerful hitters and gives the seven-time All-Star a shot at competing for a championship. He posted an OPS of just .651 last season but should be more valuable in a lineup where he isn’t the premier bat.</p><p>Xander Bogaerts, the Padres’ new star slugger, has <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/padres-news-xander-bogaerts-speaks-out-on-first-win-home-run-with-san-diego" rel="noopener">gotten off to a great start</a> with his new team. With Fernando Tatis Jr. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/padres-news-fernando-tatis-jr-joe-musgrove-begin-rehab" rel="noopener">expected to join</a> the star-studded lineup soon, San Diego could really take off in the National League standings. The Padres are looking to establish themselves as one of the best teams in baseball after reaching the NLCS last season as an underdog.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Padres’ Nelson Cruz approaches Barry Bonds territory with latest slugging feat

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/world-baseball-classic-news-nelson-cruz-first-player-gm-to-homer-dominican-republic');   ga('set', 'title', 'Nelson Cruz makes history with home run for Dominican Republic ahead of World Baseball Classic');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/world-baseball-classic-news-nelson-cruz-makes-history-with-home-run-for-dominican-republic.jpg"></figure><h1>Nelson Cruz makes history with home run for Dominican Republic ahead of World Baseball Classic</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-03-08T13:44:14-08:00">March 8th, 1:44pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-03-08T13:44:14-08:00">March 8th, 1:44pm</time><address><a href="https://joeymistretta.wordpress.com">Joey Mistretta</a>Joey Mistretta is a writer/editor who covers multiple sports. Notably, Mistretta covers baseball, basketball, and football. He is originally from a small town in Southern California and spent the majority of his time growing up playing baseball and basketball. He graduated college with a degree in broadcast journalism. In addition to writing, Mistretta runs a sports Youtube channel and works as a seasonal play-by-play sports broadcaster.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Nelson Cruz became the first <a href="https://twitter.com/hgomez27/status/1633559347279134720" rel="noopener">player/GM to hit a home run</a> during the Dominican Republic’s exhibition game against the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday, per Hector Gomez. Although the stats don’t count from the contest, Cruz’s homer was still impressive to say the least.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Nelson Cruz becomes the first GM /player to hit a home run in baseball history. <a href="https://t.co/4MA1ka5MIe">pic.twitter.com/4MA1ka5MIe</a></p><p>— Héctor Gómez (@hgomez27) <a href="https://twitter.com/hgomez27/status/1633559347279134720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 8, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Cruz <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/padres-news-san-diego-adds-more-thump-with-nelson-cruz-deal" rel="noopener">signed with the San Diego Padres</a> in free agency. He clearly still has plenty of thump left in his bat and will provide pop for San Diego. However, his first order of business is to lead the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/team-dominican-republic-roster-for-2023-world-baseball-classic" rel="noopener">Dominican Republic</a> to a deep World Baseball Classic run.</p><p>Nelson Cruz <a href="https://www.startribune.com/twins-spring-training-orioles-miranda-nelson-cruz-dominican-world-baseball-classic/600257007/" rel="noopener">recently discussed</a> his GM role, per Phil Miller of the Star Tribune.</p><p>“There’s a lot of things behind the scenes that us, the players, don’t find out, that fans don’t find out, media don’t find out,” Cruz said. “Living day by day with situations and seeing behind the scenes what’s going on. [Managing] operations and calling GMs and calling players, it’s definitely been a nice experience. … I wouldn’t change anything if I could do it all over.”</p><p>The Dominican Republic are the betting favorites heading into the WBC. They are led by superstars such as Manny Machado and Rafael Devers. However, teams such as the USA and Japan also have high odds of winning it all.</p><p>The 2023 Classic projects to be exciting throughout. The players want nothing more than to represent their countries and earn a WBC victory.</p><p>Nelson Cruz and the Dominican Republic team will officially begin their journey to a World Baseball Classic championship on Saturday against Venezuela.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Nelson Cruz makes history with home run for Dominican Republic ahead of World Baseball Classic

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/padres-news-san-diego-adds-more-thump-with-nelson-cruz-deal');   ga('set', 'title', 'Padres add more thump with Nelson Cruz 1-year, $1 million deal');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/padres-news-san-diego-adds-more-thump-with-nelson-cruz-deal.jpg"></figure><h1>Padres add more thump with Nelson Cruz 1-year, $1 million deal</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-01-11T13:33:46-08:00">January 11th, 1:33pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-01-11T13:59:01-08:00">January 11th, 1:59pm</time><address><a href="https://joeymistretta.wordpress.com">Joey Mistretta</a>Joey Mistretta is a writer/editor who covers multiple sports. Notably, Mistretta covers baseball, basketball, and football. He is originally from a small town in Southern California and spent the majority of his time growing up playing baseball and basketball. He graduated college with a degree in broadcast journalism. In addition to writing, Mistretta runs a sports Youtube channel and works as a seasonal play-by-play sports broadcaster.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The San Diego Padres and Nelson Cruz <a href="https://twitter.com/hgomez27/status/1613279840052064257" rel="noopener">are reportedly in agreement</a> on a 1-year deal, per Hector Gomez. The <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1613292414512386053" rel="noopener">deal is reportedly worth</a> $1 million, per Jeff Passan. San Diego was <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-rumors-padres-showing-interest-in-veteran-slugger-nelson-cruz" rel="noopener">previously rumored to be interested</a> in the veteran designated hitter, but nothing was official. This reported agreement provides the Padres with a right-handed slugger who can DH or come off the bench in a pinch-hitting role.</p><p>Nelson Cruz could end up platooning with Matt Carpenter, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/padres-news-san-diego-swipes-matt-carpenter-away-from-yankees-in-free-agency" rel="noopener">who recently inked a deal</a> in San Diego as well. Carpenter is a left-handed hitter who will primarily face right-handed pitching. Meanwhile, Cruz’s ability to hit left-handed pitching from the right-side bodes well for the Padres.</p><p>Cruz may see some time in the outfield. But the 42-year old is best suited for a DH role at this point in his career.</p><p>He endured a down season in Washington with the Nationals during the 2022 campaign. Cruz ultimately slashed just .234/.313/.337 with a .651 OPS and 10 home runs in 124 games. However, this is a player who is only one year removed from clubbing 32 home runs between the Minnesota Twins and Tampa Bay Rays. Cruz was an All-Star in 2021 as well.</p><p>Perhaps playing for a contender in San Diego will help Nelson Cruz bounce back.</p><p>The Padres are looking to compete with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the National League West division title. LA cruised to a division win last year. But San Diego upset the Dodgers in the 2022 MLB playoffs. And following the Padres’ lucrative offseason, that has seen them sign star Xander Bogaerts and other key depth pieces, they are ready to make another playoff run.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Padres add more thump with Nelson Cruz 1-year, $1 million deal

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb-rumors-padres-showing-interest-in-veteran-slugger-nelson-cruz');   ga('set', 'title', 'RUMOR: Padres showing interest in veteran slugger Nelson Cruz');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/MLB-rumors-Padres-showing-interest-in-veteran-slugger-Nelson-Cruz.jpg"></figure><h1>RUMOR: Padres showing interest in veteran slugger Nelson Cruz</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-01-10T15:04:19-08:00">January 10th, 3:04pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-01-10T15:04:43-08:00">January 10th, 3:04pm</time><address><a>Angelo Guinhawa</a>Angelo Guinhawa is a basketball and soccer/football editor/writer. He uses his background in digital marketing to make sure you get to read his work. He has previously worked for FOX Sports PH and a number of reputable sports media outlets. If he's not writing or watching sports, he's likely scouring online for his next NBA card purchase.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/padres-news-san-diego-land-former-top-prospect-brent-honeywell" rel="noopener">San Diego Padres are not done</a> making moves this offseason, and apparently, they have interest in <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/white-sox-news-nelson-cruz-shoots-free-agency-shot-chicago" rel="noopener">free agent slugger</a> Nelson Cruz.</p><p>Cruz is turning 43 soon, but that doesn’t seem to be an issue for the Padres. And why would it be? The veteran hitter played for the Washington Nationals in 2022 and featured in 124 games, hitting 10 home runs in the process. He also had 64 RBI and recorded a .234 batting average along with a .651 OPS.</p><p>In 2021, during which he split time between Minnesota Twins and Tampa Bay Rays–at age 40 as well–he hit <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cruzne02.shtml" rel="noopener">32 home runs</a> and tallied 86 RBI and .832 OPS. Overall in his professional career that has spanned 18 years now, he has made 459 home runs, 1302 RBI and a .274 batting average.</p><p>Of course it remains to be seen if the Padres can actually land him. As Jon Heyman of MLB Network noted, San Diego is just one of multiple teams <a href="https://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/1612931794591948801" rel="noopener">interested</a> in Nelson Cruz’s services.</p><p>The Padres do have one advantage, though: they have a connection with Cruz. For those not in the know, general manager AJ Preller was with Cruz before during his time with the Texas Rangers.</p><p>Cruz was with the Rangers from 2006 to 2013, and Preller served as a front office executive of the team from 2004 until 2014 before he left when the Padres hired him to be their general manager.</p><p>The Padres have World Series dreams after making a move for Juan Soto in 2022, and sure enough, they are hoping to surround him with more talent as they make another run in 2023.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2023 SEASON STATS
BA	HR	RBI	OPS	SB
.250	1	2	0.661	0

2023 SEASON STATS
BA	HR	RBI	OPS	SB
.250	1	2	0.661	0

Nelson Cruz

Latest Nelson Cruz News

Padres’ Nelson Cruz joins Ichiro in history books with improbable feat vs. Giants

Padres’ Nelson Cruz approaches Barry Bonds territory with latest slugging feat

Nelson Cruz makes history with home run for Dominican Republic ahead of World Baseball Classic

Padres add more thump with Nelson Cruz 1-year, $1 million deal

RUMOR: Padres showing interest in veteran slugger Nelson Cruz

Nelson
Cruz