Nelson Cruz Spray Chart MLB Stats & Career Totals

There is one pitch he punishes whenever he sees it

Cruz does his damage against fastballs: a .786 OPS against them, against .420 on offspeed pitches.

76 plate appearances ending on fastballs, 22 on offspeed pitches.

When he connects, the ball leaves in a hurry

Cruz hits the ball hard: 92.5 mph off the bat on average, 96th percentile in the league.

152 plate appearances in 2023. 96th percentile among qualified hitters in 2023, 22nd in MLB.

There is one situation he is at his most dangerous in

Cruz is at his best against right-handers, with the bases empty, on fastballs: a 1.034 OPS there against .682 overall.

20 plate appearances in that situation.

His home runs almost all go to the same part of the park

4 of Cruz's 5 located home runs have gone to left field, the longest of them 442 feet.

5 tracked home runs in 2023.

His contact is about the same with runners on

57.7% of Cruz's contact with a runner in scoring position is hit hard, against 45.1% of it with the bases empty.

43 plate appearances with a runner in scoring position, 109 with the bases empty.

He almost never walks, which limits how he helps

Cruz walks in only 3.9% of his plate appearances, 8th percentile.

152 plate appearances in 2023. 8th percentile among qualified hitters in 2023, 543rd in MLB.

A huge share of his contact is the hard kind

48.5% of Cruz's contact leaves the bat at 95 mph or more, 88th percentile in the league.

152 plate appearances in 2023. 88th percentile among qualified hitters in 2023, 70th in MLB.

There is one situation he simply cannot handle

Cruz is at his worst against right-handers, with the bases empty, on breaking balls: a .400 OPS there against .682 overall.

20 plate appearances in that situation.

This is the kind of hitter he is, in one line

Cruz trades contact for damage: top-end barrel rate, bottom-end strikeout rate: 72nd percentile barrel rate, 21st percentile strikeout rate.

152 plate appearances in 2023. both percentiles among qualified hitters in 2023.

The big spots do not change his strikeouts either way

Cruz strikes out in 34.9% of his trips with a runner in scoring position and 28.4% with the bases empty.

43 plate appearances with a runner in scoring position, 109 with the bases empty.

One pitch is where all his power comes from

Cruz slugs .457 against fastballs and .238 against offspeed pitches.

76 plate appearances ending on fastballs.

He strikes out about the same against both hands

Cruz strikes out in 27% of his trips against right-handers and 32.6% of them against left-handers.

63 plate appearances against right-handers, 89 against left-handers.

Everything that leaves the yard leaves to his pull side

4 of Cruz's 5 home runs have gone to his pull side and 1 of them the other way.

5 tracked home runs in 2023.

He squares the ball up as well as almost anyone

9.4% of Cruz's batted balls are barrelled, the batted-ball class that turns into extra bases more often than not. 72nd percentile.

152 plate appearances in 2023. 72nd percentile among qualified hitters in 2023, 166th in MLB.

The strikeouts are the thing holding his season back

Cruz strikes out in 30.3% of his trips, 21st percentile.

152 plate appearances in 2023. 21st percentile among qualified hitters in 2023, 467th in MLB.

He does not get on base enough to help

Cruz is on base at a .283 clip, 29th percentile in the league.

152 plate appearances in 2023. 29th percentile among qualified hitters in 2023, 424th in MLB.

He puts the ball in play when the run is there to drive

With a runner in scoring position Cruz averages 94.7 mph off the bat, against 91.7 with the bases empty.

26 tracked batted balls with a runner in scoring position, 71 without.

He is a pull hitter, and defences can set up for it

Cruz pulls 31.6% of his batted balls and goes the other way with 22.4%, a spread a defence cannot cheat on.

31 pulled, 45 up the middle and 22 the other way over 98 located batted balls.

He hits about the same with runners on as without

With a runner in scoring position Cruz has an OPS of .776; with the bases empty it is .645.

43 plate appearances with a runner in scoring position, 109 with the bases empty.

There is one part of the field he lives in

Cruz hits it hardest to his pull side: 93.4 mph on average there, against 89.9 the other way.

31 batted balls to his pull side, 22 the other way.

Which hand is pitching changes where he hits the ball

Cruz pulls 25.6% of what he puts in play against right-handers and 36.4% of it against left-handers.

43 batted balls against right-handers, 55 against left-handers.

He gets the ball in the air at the angle that hurts

Cruz finds the launch angles that produce hits on 36.5% of his contact, 61st percentile.

152 plate appearances in 2023. 61st percentile among qualified hitters in 2023, 233rd in MLB.

Nelson Cruz

Contextual Splits

Crunching the Numbers