Trei Cruz

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Trei Jose Cruz

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Biographical Information[edit]

Trei Cruz is a third-generation major league outfielder. His grandfather José Cruz Sr. played from 1970 to 1988 and his father Jose Cruz Jr. from 1997 to 2008. Trei was born in Toronto, ON when his father was a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, but the family originally hails from Puerto Rico and includes a number of other professional players: two brothers of his grandfather, Hector Cruz and Tommy Cruz played in the majors, and his uncle, Jose E. Cruz as well as Tommy's sons, Cirilo Cruz and Alberto Cruz, were all minor league players. In addition, Trei's brother, Antonio, was a teammate at Rice University but never turned pro. The Cruzes are the fifth baseball family to comprise players from three successive generations.

Trei was drafted three times. In 2017 amateur draft, he was taken by the Houston Astros in the 35th round coming out of high school, then in the 2019 amateur draft, the Washington Nationals took him in the 37th round. In both cases, Trei had made it clear that he was not yet ready to turn pro, so the picks were only a demonstration of interest. In the 2020 amateur draft however, he was taken in the 3rd round by the Detroit Tigers, and this time he signed. He had to wait until 2021 to start his pro career due to the COVID-19 pandemic having shut down the minor leagues in 2020 in addition to cutting his junior season at Rice after just 16 games. He did play 25 games for the Eastern Reyes del Tigre in the pop-up Constellation Energy League, which assembled a number of idle professional players from around the Houston, TX area that strange summer.

In 2021, he played for four different teams, starting with both Detroit entries in the Florida Complex League, then 33 games for the Lakeland Flying Tigers and 26 more for the West Michigan Whitecaps. In 63 games, he batted just .161. He put up better numbers in 2022, batting .231 with 8 homers and 52 RBIs in 117 games mainly in Class A. In 2023, he played 120 games for the AA Erie SeaWolves, batting .214 with 14 homers and 53 RBIs. He repeated the level in 2024 and improved to .260 with 9 homers and 48 RBIs in 102 games. It was his performance in 2025 that him squarely back on the path to the majors, however, as he batted .279/.411/,456 with 13 homers and 56 RBIs in 127 games between Erie and the AAA Toledo Mud Hens.

A knee injury slowed him down at the beginning of the 2026 season, as he had to go on a rehabilitation assignment in Lakeland before returning to Toledo. He was hitting .228 in 33 games when he was called up to Detroit on June 19th. He started that game in right field against the Chicago White Sox and struck out in all three of his plate appearances in a 4-3 win. Both his father and grandfather were present in Detroit to witness his debut that day.

Further Reading[edit]

  • Jason Beck: "Tigers' pick following footsteps of dad, grandpa", mlb.com, June 12, 2020. [1]
  • Jason Beck: "Cruz one step away from being third-generation big leaguer", mlb.com, November 25, 2025. [2]
  • Jason Beck: "Tigers make 3rd generation of MLB outfielders with callup of Cruz", mlb.com, June 19, 2026. [3]
  • Richard Justice: "Tigers' pick aims to be 3rd-generation MLBer", mlb.com, June 11, 2020. [4]

Related Sites[edit]

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