Joel De La Cruz Santos (born June 9, 1989) is a Dominican former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He has played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

Career

Milwaukee Brewers

De La Cruz signed with the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

in 2006 and was assigned to the team's

Arizona League The Arizona Complex League (ACL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in and around Phoenix, Arizona, since 1988. Prior to 2021, it was known as the Arizona League (AZL). Along with the Florida Complex League (FCL), it f ...

affiliate he played in the Brewers organization until 2009.

Washington Nationals

He was signed and later released by the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

in 2009.

New York Yankees

The

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

signed De La Cruz in 2010. He spent his first season with the Yankees in the

Dominican Summer League The Dominican Summer League (DSL) is a branch of affiliated Minor League Baseball which is played in the Dominican Republic. The league was founded in 1985. After the demise of the Venezuelan Summer League after the 2015 season, it is the only L ...

and was promoted to the

Tampa Yankees Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

of the

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

during the 2011 season. De La Cruz split the 2012 season between the

Charleston RiverDogs The Charleston RiverDogs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League. They are located in Charleston, South Carolina, and are the Single-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. The RiverDogs' home stadium is Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park. Hi ...

and Tampa. He was assigned to Tampa for the entirety of the 2013 season. The Yankees promoted De La Cruz to the

Trenton Thunder The Trenton Thunder are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Trenton, New Jersey, and play their home games at Trenton Thunder Ballpark. From 1994 to 2020, it was a Minor League Baseball team of the Doub ...

of the Double-A Eastern League at the start of 2014, and later promoted him to the Triple-A

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (often abbreviated to SWB RailRiders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They are located in Moosic, Pen ...

. De La Cruz resigned with the Yankees in September 2014, and started the 2015 season with the

. The Yankees promoted him to the major leagues on April 13, 2015, to replace Kyle Davies. The Yankees outrighted him off of the

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

on April 18. He then split the season between Trenton and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Atlanta Braves

De La Cruz became a minor league free agent after the 2015 season, and signed with the Braves. The Braves promoted De La Cruz to the major leagues on April 11 and May 20, 2016, each time for one day only. He was outrighted off the Braves 40-man roster later that week, having made no major league appearances. The Braves recalled De La Cruz for the third time during the 2016 season on June 29, and he made his major league debut that night. De La Cruz spent the season shifting between the bullpen and starting rotation. He was released on October 23, 2017.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:De la Cruz, Joel 1989 births Living people Arizona League Brewers players Atlanta Braves players Charleston RiverDogs players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Dominican Summer League Nationals players Dominican Summer League Yankees players Gwinnett Braves players Gulf Coast Yankees players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic People from Bajos de Haina Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders players Tampa Yankees players Toros del Este players Trenton Thunder players