Trei Cruz

[Peter Welch]

27-year-old organizational veteran Trei Cruz is having a good spring training so far.  Cruz is the kind of multi-position player that Hinch loves.  He's been playing mostly CF this spring but he can play SS, 3B, 2B and the other outfield positions.  He is a switch hitter.

Cruz has always drawn a lot of walks and had good OBAs in the minors but his batting averages have been low and he hasn't hit for much power.

Last year he hit .284/.423/.458 for Toledo and .275/.402/.454 for Erie, which were his best numbers in the minors.  He's been in the Tigers' system since 2021 (he was a 3rd-round pick by the Tigers in 2020 from Rice U.).

If Parker Meadows continues to struggle to hit this spring I wonder if Cruz has a chance of making the roster over Meadows.  I don't know how well Cruz plays defensively in CF.  

I'm guessing Cruz will start the season with Toledo but if Meadows or Perez struggle early or get injured he could be called up.

Peter

[Michael W]

Cruz is one of the few players in camp who is a good bet to hit worse than Meadows.

Michael 

[Peter Welch]

You're probably right that he'll be worse than Meadows, but I just have a feeling Cruz might be a bit of a "late bloomer" and actually be useful as a McKinstry-type multi-position utility player.  We'll see.

Peter

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From: detroit...@googlegroups.com <detroit...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Michael W <miw...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, February 27, 2026 10:41 PM
To: Detroit Tigers e-mail list <detroit...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: Trei Cruz

 

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[Michael W]

Compare Cruz’s minor league numbers to McKinstry’s and tell me if you still have that feeling.

Michael 

[Peter Welch]

I know, but Cruz showed a lot of improvement last year.  He's always had excellent walk rates in the minors (better than McKinstry ever had), but his batting averages and power numbers were low until last year.  It's possible he figured out something last year, or it was just because he was a 26-year-old playing in AA and AAA.  He's had some bad luck with injuries and illness in the minors (he's had Tommy John surgery plus had Covid and mono infections that took away time from him).  As I said, he could be a late bloomer.  Scouting reports are suggesting this as well.

Tigers' management liked his performance enough last year that they added him to the 40-man roster in the offseason.  I think Hinch likes his versatility.

I'm not saying that Tigers' management is smart, but all I'm saying is that I wouldn't be surprised to see Cruz on the Tigers' roster this year at some point, and he might be surprisingly useful, or he could just be Baez-bad.

Peter

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From: detroit...@googlegroups.com <detroit...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Michael W <miw...@gmail.com>

Sent: Saturday, February 28, 2026 11:20 PM

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