Joel

de la Cruz

Bryce Harper and Chris Heisey managed the big blows against de la Cruz on Sunday, with Harper cranking a three-run home run in the third inning and Heisey notching a slightly less damaging two-run shot of his own in the sixth. The disappointing outing bumped de la Cruz’s ERA from 3.72 to 4.47 (44 1/3 innings). He will try for better times in a road date with the Giants next time he toes the rubber.

He’ll start in place of the injured Aaron Blair. The 27-year-old hurler owns a troublesome 4.68 ERA, 1.49 WHIP and 44/24 K/BB ratio over 57 2/3 innings at Triple-A. He isn’t worth using in any fantasy formats, and should be stacked heavily against in daily leagues.

The Twins got to de la Cruz with a run in the first inning, but the right-hander settled in after that, ultimately giving up just four hits and two walks while striking out four. Unfortunately for him, Ervin Santana just pitched a bit better. De la Cruz faces the Nationals the next time out.

De La Cruz gave up an RBI double to Ryan Howard in the first inning and a three-run homer to A.J. Ellis in the second, but he kept the Phillies’ lineup in check after that. He fanned five and walked one and at least managed to keep the Braves in the ballgame. The 27-year-old owns a mediocre 4.89 ERA and 31/18 K/BB ratio through 53 1/3 innings this season and can continue being ignored in most fantasy leagues.

De la Cruz was up briefly with the Braves last month but didn’t appear in a game. He holds a 5.96 ERA and 19/12 K/BB ratio over 22 2/3 frames for Gwinnett this season. The 26-year-old will be making his major league debut when he gets into a game.

He fanned one batter and walked another. He was making his major league debut after being called up for a spot start earlier in the day. De La Cruz is 27 years old and has posted mediocre numbers at Triple-A as a part time starter / part time reliever. He has little chance of ever being a useful pitcher in fantasy leagues.

De la Cruz had a solid major league debut on Wednesday, holding the Indians to three runs over six innings. The Braves are dealing with a handful of injuries to their rotation, so the 27-year-old will get a shot to stick around for a while. He’s not recommended in fantasy leagues.

Cruz will make his major league debut in a spot start against the red-hot Indians on Wednesday. The 27-year-old posted owns a 4.68 ERA over five starts and 16 relief appearances this year in Triple-A and can be avoided for fantasy purposes.

He issued five free passes but allowed only two hits and struck out two in the ballgame. It was the bases-on-balls that burned him. He walked two batters in the second inning and one of them came around to score on a single by the opposing pitcher. You only have to give up one run to lose when you pitch for the Braves. The loss drops him to 0-4 with a 3.41 ERA. He has fanned only 14 batters in 29 innings while walking 10. That is not a recipe for success.

The Braves are still piecing together their rotation after trading Lucas Harrell to the Rangers last week. Cruz is 0-2 with a 5.25 ERA in his two starts for the Braves this year. This will just be a spot start as Aaron Blair is expected to join the rotation sometime next week.