One of the filthiest pitchers in the game through nearly three weeks of the regular season was among the least effective pitchers through about a month of the Grapefruit League season.
“You can look up my numbers in spring training,” Fernando Cruz said with a laugh before the Yankees played the Royals in The Bronx on Tuesday. “They were ridiculous.”
Those numbers: nine runs (seven earned) on 10 hits in 6 ¹/₃ innings in which he gave up three homers with a 1.89 WHIP.
His 11 strikeouts reflected the caliber of stuff, but results during his exhibition season were particularly meaningless.
