Arnoldi Anthony Cruz (August 18, 1986) is an American 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 ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

. He was drafted by the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

in the 26th round of the

2007 MLB Draft The 2007 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players and was held on June 7, 2007 and June 8, 2007. The first day session of the draft included the fi ...

and he made his

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) debut with them four years later. Cruz was a member of the Cardinals

2011 World Series The 2011 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2011 season. The 107th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Texas Rangers and the Nation ...

champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, an ...

team. He also played for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

and

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

Career

St. Louis Cardinals

Cruz graduated from

Santaluces Community High School Santaluces Community High School is a school located in Lantana, Florida, United States. It was opened in 1982 and is managed by the Palm Beach County School District, Florida. Notable alumni *Joe Pags Pagliarulo, 1982, Radio Talk Show Host for ...

. From

Palm Beach State College Palm Beach State College is a public college in Lake Worth, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System. Palm Beach State College enrolls nearly 27,000 students in over 100 programs of study including bachelor of applied science, associa ...

and

Middle Georgia College Middle Georgia College (MGC) was a four-year state college unit of the University System of Georgia. On January 8, 2013, it was consolidated with Macon State College into a new institution, which is now known as Middle Georgia State University. T ...

, Cruz was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 26th round (802nd overall) of the

2007 Major League Baseball Draft The 2007 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players and was held on June 7, 2007 and June 8, 2007. The first day session of the draft included the f ...

. In five seasons and 400 minor league games, he batted .266 with 96 doubles, 37

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 221

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

(RBI). He appeared in 231 games at catcher and 133 at

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

. On May 23,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, the Cardinals called Cruz up for the first time to the major leagues when they placed

Gerald Laird Gerald Lee Laird III (born November 13, 1979) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, and Arizona Diamondbacks. Ca ...

on the 15-day

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

(DL) with a right

index finger The index finger (also referred to as forefinger, first finger, second finger, pointer finger, trigger finger, digitus secundus, digitus II, and many other terms) is the second digit of a human hand. It is located between the thumb and the mid ...

fracture Fracture is the separation of an object or material into two or more pieces under the action of stress. The fracture of a solid usually occurs due to the development of certain displacement discontinuity surfaces within the solid. If a displa ...

. The next day, he made his major league debut as a starter. He collected three

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

in five

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s with two

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

and a double. He was optioned back to the minors on August 12, 2011. He was later recalled when the Cardinals made the postseason. Cruz served as the third-string catcher during the postseason and eventually won the

with the Cardinals. On June 27, 2012, Cruz hit his first major league home run. Cruz spent the majority of the

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

season as the Cardinals primary backup to

Yadier Molina Yadier Benjamín Molina (; born July 13, 1982), nicknamed "Yadi", is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball catcher who played his entire career with the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Widely considered one of the great ...

and a pinch hitter. When Molina went on the 15-day DL with a knee injury after the All-Star break Cruz assumed the #1 catcher role. However, on August 15, 2013 - one day after Molina's return from the DL - the Cardinals announced Cruz was going onto the disabled list with a stress fracture of his left forearm. He had been playing with the fracture for about a month, but it was evaluated as soreness at first, according to

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

John Mozeliak John Mozeliak (born January 18, 1969) is an American baseball executive who is the president of baseball operations of the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Never a professional baseball player, Mozeliak came to the Cardinals a ...

Kansas City Royals

On December 2, 2015, the Cardinals traded Cruz to their cross-state rivals, the

for minor leaguer José Martínez. He was up and down in the majors with the Royals in 2016. He was designated for assignment on November 18, 2016, and released on November 23.

San Diego Padres

On February 7, 2017, Cruz signed a minor league contract with the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

organization. He was assigned to the

El Paso Chihuahuas The El Paso Chihuahuas are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. They are located in El Paso, Texas, and play their home games at Southwest University ...

, where he would spend the entire season. He elected free agency on November 6, 2017.

Cincinnati Reds

On December 19, 2017 Cruz signed a minor league deal with the

. On May 8, 2018, Cruz was recalled from AAA Louisville after the Reds traded catcher

Devin Mesoraco Devin Douglas Mesoraco (born June 19, 1988) is an American baseball coach and former professional baseball catcher, who is the current catching coach for the Pittsburgh Panthers. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati R ...

to the Mets for

Matt Harvey Matthew Edward Harvey (born March 27, 1989), nicknamed The Dark Knight, is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, ...

. He was released on June 21.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Tony 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from West Palm Beach, Florida Baseball players from Florida Major League Baseball catchers St. Louis Cardinals players Kansas City Royals players Cincinnati Reds players Middle Georgia Warriors baseball players Northwest Florida State Raiders baseball players Palm Beach State Panthers baseball players Gulf Coast Cardinals players Johnson City Cardinals players Batavia Muckdogs players Swing of the Quad Cities players Palm Beach Cardinals players Honolulu Sharks players Estrellas Orientales players Surprise Rafters players Springfield Cardinals players Memphis Redbirds players Omaha Storm Chasers players Tigres del Licey players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic El Paso Chihuahuas players Louisville Bats players