Omar Cruz #28

2025 marked his first invite to Major League Spring Training after six Minor League seasons between SD (2018-19 & ‘24) and PIT (‘21-23), compiling a 19-20 record, 3.60 ERA (158 ER, 394.2 IP), .228 AVG and 10.60 SO/9 IP ratio across 128 appearances (56 starts)...Acquired by PIT in the three-team, seven-player trade that brought Joe Musgrove to SD in January 2021...Had his contract selected on Nov. 19, 2024 and was added to SDs’ 40-man roster...Entered 2025 ranked as the Padres' No. 21 prospect by MLB Pipeline and No. 25 by Baseball America.

2024

 In his first season back with SD, he reached the Triple-A level for the first time after posting a 3.59 ERA with 70 strikeouts in 47.2 IP (13.35 SO/9 IP) for Double-A San Antonio out of the gate in 2024...Between both stops, he posted a 12.33 SO/9 IP with career highs in appearances (34) and strikeouts (118)...Recorded his first two career saves in a three-outing stretch on April 24 vs. Wichita and May 3 at Arkansas...His lone two starts with SA came in back-to-back outings May 25 at Wichita and May 29 at Frisco, allowing one ER across 3.0 IP in both starts...Held a 5-0 record with SA, with all five of his winning decisions coming in his last six relief appearances from June 11-July 9...Struck out nine with no BB on June 26 vs. Midland, the most strikeouts in a relief role in his career...Promoted to El Paso for his Triple-A debut on July 13, where he went 1-2 with a 4.42 ERA (19 ER, 38.2 IP) and 11.31 SO/9 IP ratio across 14 appearances (five starts)…Held a 2.23 ERA and .173 opponents’ AVG through his first 10 Triple-A outings (three starts), including a 6.0-inning, two-hit shutout performance in a Aug. 11 start at Sugar Land…it was the most shutout innings in a single outing in his career...Allowed 11 ER across his final four September outings (6.1 IP, 15.63 ERA)...Between both stops, the southpaw limited LHH to a .197 clip with just two XBH (one 2B, one HR)…RHH batted .222 with 15 XBH (11 2B, one 3B, three HR)...With RISP, limited the opposition to a .212 clip (18-for-85)...Had his contract selected on Nov.19 and was added to SDs’ 40-man roster...Entered 2025 ranked as the Padres' No. 21 prospect by MLB Pipeline and No. 25 by Baseball America.

2023

Remained with Double-A Altoona for the entirety of the campaign for the 2nd consecutive season, with 27 of his 28 appearances coming in relief...Began the season on the Development List from April 6-May 27 before going 1-4 with a 3.94 ERA (21 ER, 48.0 IP) and .220 opponents’ AVG across the 28 appearances...Went scoreless in 17 of his 28 outings, including each of his first five appearances to begin the season from May 28-June 10 with just one hit allowed (.045 AVG)...His season ERA sat at 4.26 before he allowed just one hit across 3.2 scoreless frames in his final outing of the season Sept. 15 at Akron, lowering his ERA to 3.94…he struck out 8 of his 13 BF in the contest…the 8 punchies were the 2ndmost he’s collected in a relief outing in his career...Rejoined the San Diego system as a Minor League Rule 5 pick on December 6 at the Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tennessee.

2022

Transitioned to a reliever in 2022 for Double-A Altoona, where he spent the entirety of the campaign making 18 relief appearances in his 23 total outings...Allowed 2 ER in relief across 2.1 IP in his season debut April 10 vs. Harrisburg and was tagged with the loss before rattling off 10.0 consecutive scoreless frames across his next 3 relief outings from April 15-24…allowed just four hits with a 14.40 SO/9 IP ratio over the scoreless streak...Went on to make five consecutive starts from April 30-May 24 (1-2, 7.06 ERA, 21.2 IP) before working exclusively in relief from May 29-Sept. 18 (1-0, 5.02 ERA, 28.2 IP)...Missed exactly two calendar months in between appearances (June 28-Aug. 28) while on the 7-day IL.

2021

Acquired by PIT from SD in the three-team, seven-player trade that brought Joe Musgrove to San Diego…was rated by MLB Pipeline as SD’s 17th-best prospect at the time he was acquired PIT, and then entered the season rated as PIT’s 20th-best prospect (MLB Pipeline)...Posted career highs in starts (21) and IP (99.1) with 14 of the starts and 70.2 IP coming in his Double-A debut with Altoona after being promoted on June 23 from High-A Greensboro...Led all left-handed pitchers in the Pirates minor league system in strikeouts (98), which were also the 9th-most among all Pirates minor leaguers...His 3.44 ERA ranked 4th among Pirates minor leaguers in ERA with at least 90.0 innings pitched...Named an MiLB Organization All-Star for PIT following the season.