The San Diego Padres brought left-hander Omar Cruz back into the fold this past offseason via the Rule 5 draft. In speaking with Cruz, it is clear he is ready to contribute to the organization he considers his family. 

The San Diego Padres minor league system had several pitchers make strides in their growth en route to the Major Leagues. Regardless of the levels, the Padres’ minor league pitching development staff led by director Rob Marcello has played a role in helping young hurlers find their strengths and flows as the season went on. 

While the Padres’ organization saw some departures throughout the system, A.J. Preller and his staff have a clear idea of which players they see making an impact at the Major League level. The team has found talent at many levels, from international signings to undrafted free agents to the MLB draft. One such player is a familiar face for longtime Padres executives and evaluators: left-hander Omar Cruz. 

To get to this point in his career, it would be an understatement to call Cruz’s journey “a long story.” EVT spoke with Cruz about his journey and Major League dreams, which began over two decades ago in the sandlots of Hermosillo, Sonora, in Mexico.

The Padres’ organization has long had ties to the Mexican baseball fanbase, and Cruz is another in the lineage of Mexican ballplayers to see time in the Padres organization. 

Note: The interview with Omar Cruz was conducted in Spanish, so quotes have been translated. 

As with many young baseball fans, Cruz’s love for the game began at the young age of three. “Before playing in Liga Unision baseball as a child, I began playing baseball with my dad both inside and outside the house,” Cruz said of his first baseball experiences. His love for the game continued to grow as he grew older, but he didn’t start out on the mound. “The truth was, I had very few options for which positions to play, being a left-handed thrower, so my favorite position was first base. As I was growing up, I spent a lot of time playing outfield, but when I turned 15, it hit me that being on the mound was my position,” Cruz explained. 

Finding a position as a left-handed thrower took Cruz some time, but once on the mound, he went about his hard work with a strong determination, which brought him to the attention of scouts. While American amateur players have major prep schools to prepare them for the professional levels, Mexican league teams offer similar opportunities, and it was one of these academies that gave Cruz his first big shot.

The Diablos Rojos de México (México Red Devils in English) signed Cruz to one of their academies. Much like how the minor league system has its Rookie levels (Dominican Summer Leagues or Arizona Complex League), these academies had two levels to them, as Cruz detailed. “The Diablos had two academies, one in Oaxaca, which served as a starting point to prepare you for the next one, which is in Monterrey with all the other teams.” International competition comparisons are tough to make, but as an individual with experience in both the Mexican and American minor league systems, Cruz equated these academies as being near or at the Rookie League levels. 

To stand out from the crowd, hard work was seen as a necessity for Cruz, but this came from himself as opposed to from an external individual. When asked about his most important lesson learned in the Mexican academies, Cruz cites internal stuff. “My discipline and mentality, I feel like that was what allowed me to succeed at the academies; it allowed me to work hard and eventually get signed,” Cruz admits.

And get signed, he did.

In July of 2017, Cruz signed with the San Diego Padres organization. His goal to be signed came true, but he didn’t settle for that. The Padres’ organization had an understanding of his drive and motivation, and so he was tabbed as the Opening Day starter in the Arizona Complex League in his professional debut in 2018. Some players may have found this to be a daunting task, but not Cruz. “I felt committed from Day 1, and of course, I used it [the team’s belief] as motivation to keep climbing the levels, and I still do to this day,” he said of the start of his career. Early on in his career, Cruz excelled thanks to a strong fastball and curveball, and in the Padres’ system, he flashed those pitches as solid offerings. Cruz specifically mentioned current ACL Padres pitching coach Leo Rosales as a voice in the organization who was a great help to him, one with whom he remains in contact to this day. 

While the left-hander reached as high as Fort Wayne in 2019, he did not believe he was the best he could be, and the 2020 pandemic-canceled season posed options for him. Cruz embraced the opportunities presented, returning to the academies to further develop as a pitcher. His big curveball was his strongest pitch at the time, a pitch he uses inspired by two of his favorite big leaguers, Clayton Kershaw and Barry Zito. However, as Cruz reflected, “Truthfully, I did not have a good changeup, and so I focused on it during the pandemic, and now I consider it my best pitch.” That deep-set determination continues to show itself throughout his career, a quality that can’t be described enough. With the 2020 season in the books, having played in no minor league games, his career was about to change. 

In January 2021, Cruz was part of a trade involving the Pirates and Padres, with Cruz going to the Pirates organization. With the age of the internet and social media at a high during that time, it was only natural that it played a role in his discovery of the news. “The truth [about the trade] is, I found out on this app, Twitter/X, so all I thought about was what would happen with my career now. The news came out, and the next day, I got calls from both teams, with the Padres thanking me and the Pirates giving me a welcome to their organization,” Cruz said of the trade.

The change in organization and philosophy can sometimes be a smooth transition, but at other times, there is a feeling of difference between organizations. For Cruz, his experience was more of the latter. He told EVT, “The truth was that I could feel a difference. Here in San Diego, I felt more developed through this system, and I felt that in my first stint with San Diego, my career was going up, and in Pittsburgh, it felt like the opposite; I felt my career going downhill.” Part of this shift could be attributed to a change in his usage. A lifelong starting pitcher, Cruz posted strong numbers in 2021 with the Pirates, including a 3.44 ERA in 99.1 innings between High-A and Double-A. His 23.3% strikeout rate that season was promising, and his numbers looked like he was not too far from the Majors. Evaluators at the time agreed as Cruz was ranked as the Pirates’ No. 24 prospect following the 2021 season. All signs pointed to an upward trajectory, but the 2022 season saw the Pirates make a questionable move with regards to the young left-hander’s role. 

“My whole career, I had been a starter, and with Pittsburgh in 2021, I was still in that role, and I had a good year, but the next season, they moved me to the bullpen without an explanation why,” Cruz told EVT of his 2022 season. Cruz admitted that nowadays, he is comfortable with both a starter and reliever’s role, but at the time it was a hard transition to make. “Truthfully, my first year as a reliever was tough, the hardest problem was mentally accepting the process; it isn’t an easy one. With time, I was able to grasp it, and it really helped me become a pitcher who can do it all, start or relieve.” The move to relief was one that Cruz grew to embrace at the time, but his numbers weren’t the same as his 2021 season. His strikeout rate went up to 24.3% in 2022 but dropped to 20.4% in 2023. 2022 and 2023 saw Cruz reach Double-A Altoona in the Pirates system, but he did not reach Triple-A before the offseason. That offseason would see a change in Cruz’s career, one that caught him by surprise. 

The San Diego Padres were busy at the MLB Winter Meetings in December of 2023, and on December 6, the team brought one of their own back to San Diego, selecting Cruz in the minor league portion of the 2023 Rule-5 Draft. For those unaware of how this process works, MLB clubs are allowed to select players from other teams’ Double-A rosters to bring in for their own Triple-A clubs. The Padres still had high belief in Cruz, so selecting him was a no-brainer for them. It is always a wonder, as outsiders, how this process goes down, and Cruz shared some of his experience. “I was surprised by it- I was watching and following the Rule-5 Draft on Twitter when it happened, but I always wanted to be back with this organization because they were the team that gave me the opportunity to play baseball in the US,” Cruz said of his emotions surrounding his return to the Padres organization. “I still felt the organization wanted what was best for me, for my career, and being in this organization gave me a good feeling.”

This good feeling was rewarded as Cruz opened the year with the San Antonio Missions before making the jump to Triple-A El Paso midseason. Cruz’s promotion, which took place in July, was well earned, as he posted a 3.59 ERA (2.34 FIP), 35.3% strikeout rate, and 1.02 WHIP in 47.2 innings, starting two of 20 games with the Missions. Cruz’s promotion came with a few other Padres’ prospects making the jump as well. Familiar faces in new places can be a way to make oneself comfortable in a new environment, and Cruz had a few familiar faces join him at Triple-A down the stretch. “It helped, especially that they promoted Brandon Valenzuela since he knew how my stuff moves and how I throw my pitches.” 

Having jumped to Triple-A, Cruz didn’t shy away from what gave him success in San Antonio. Facing batters with MLB experience was a welcome opportunity for Cruz, and throwing to catchers with MLB experience certainly was that way. “I got to throw to Brett Sullivan several times, and honestly, a tremendous catcher,” Cruz noted. His faith in his teammates and adaptability to pitching in different roles was a noted element of his performance in 2024. Paired with his performance, these factors have him on the doorstep of a Major League call-up entering the 2025 season.

Cruz is very much aware of how far he has come in his professional career, and from what he has shown, the motivation and drive that got him to this point has never wavered. “For me, what keeps me going is the dream to play in the big leagues, to bring that happiness and accomplishment to me and my family,” Cruz said. “My goal isn’t just to reach the Majors, but to stay there through working hard. And another goal of mine is to help my teammates in whatever I can.” 

The idea of family is an important one for Omar Cruz, from his family in Mexico to all his teammates. “I feel very calm when I play because I have my family in Mexico, and when I’m in the US, I see all my teammates as my brothers, some older and some younger.” His willingness to help and connect with his teammates goes way beyond the scouting reports and the numbers, and his commitment to the team and to his family doesn’t stop there. “Truthfully, it would be a pride and joy,” Cruz said of wearing the Padres pinstripes at the Major League level. “Since the day I signed, I have wanted to play in the big leagues with this team. I really like the city of San Diego; they have the best stadium in the league and the best fans. And, of course, the best food.” 

Now 25 and fresh off a strong Triple-A debut, the realization of a longtime dream looks to be just around the corner for Omar Cruz, a new opportunity he is ready to face. 

Diego Garcia

A born and raised San Diegan, Diego Garcia is a lifetime Padres fan and self-proclaimed baseball nerd. Diego wrote about baseball on his own site between 2021-22 before joining the East Village Times team in 2024. He also posts baseball content on his YouTube channel “Stat Nerd Baseball”, creating content around trades, hypotheticals, player analyses, the San Diego Padres, and MLB as a whole.

A 2024 graduate of San Diego State, Diego aims to grow as a writer and content creator in the baseball community.