INF Trei Cruz, 3rd round (73rd overall) -- Signed $900,000 -- Detroit Tigers

INF Trei Cruz

Hometown: Houston, Tex.

Born: Toronto, Ont.

Resides: Houston, Tex.

Bats/Throws: Switch/Right

Height/Weight: 6’2” 200 lbs.

Slot Money: $857,400

School: Rice University Owls.

Coach: Matt Bragga

Previously Drafted: By the Washington Nationals in the 37th round (1,113th overall) pick, in 2019 ... Houston Astros in 35th round in 2017.

Previous Teams: PUF Capitalists, Episcopal High School, Marucci Elite Houston

Previous Coaches: Jose Cruz, Jr., Wayne Graham, Matt Fox, Kevin Witt, Mike Zirelli

Good genes: Father Jose Cruz Jr. was a former 30/30 outfielder with the Toronto Blue Jays. His grandfather Jose Cruz Sr. hit .284 and had 2,251 hits in 19 MLB seasons from 1970 to 1988. Brother Antonio was drafted by the Astros in the 37th round in 2018.

Twitter Handle: @CruzTrei

Jose Cruz, Jr. when he played for the Toronto Blue Jays

Scouting Report

Baseball America

“It’s hard to have better baseball bloodlines than that of the Cruz family, both at Rice and in the majors. Cruz’s grandfather, Jose Cruz Sr., played 19 years in the major leagues. His father Jose Cruz Jr. played 12 years in the majors after starring at Rice. Now Cruz (named Trei because he’s Jose Cruz III) has a chance to follow in their footsteps. Trei’s younger brother Antonio also plays at Rice. Trei Cruz has already been drafted twice—the Astros (35th round) out of high school and the Nationals (37th round) last year as a draft-eligible sophomore. Cruz has played second base, third base and shortstop in college. Some evaluators see his lack of foot speed as limiting him to second or third base as a pro, but a team confident in its player development department may believe it can improve Cruz’s poor footwork. His hands are excellent and his plus arm gives him the ability to make the spectacular play at times. He just struggles to consistently make the routine play and sometimes gets caught in between hops. As a switch-hitter, Cruz is very aggressive. He has plus raw power, especially as a lefthanded hitter, although his in-game power so far has been modest. Cruz has a solid track record as a hitter both at Rice (.296/.405/.482 in three seasons) and last summer in the Cape Cod League (.307/.384/.429). As a switch-hitter who should be at worst an above-average defender at second base, Cruz should slide into the late third or fourth round.”

2020 spring as a junior with Rice University Owls: Batted .333 with seven doubles, a homer and eight RBIs. Had an OPS of .919 in 15 games ... Two hits games against Texas (RBI), Missouri State. LSU (triple, two RBIs), Houston, Texas Tech (double).

2019 spring as a sophomore with Rice: Started 58 games … Moved to shortstop and was the only position he played … Tied for 15th in the nation among the NCAA stats leaders (second in Conference USA) with six triples … Topped the Owls with 121 total bases and 50 runs scored … Finished second with Rice in batting average (.305), hits (71), home runs (9), RBI (44), slugging (.519), walks (35) and on-base percentage (.393)... Hit .325 in the second half of the season and .330 in league-only games ... Collected two or more hits in a game 20 times, including a career-high four in a game twice ... Went 4-for-6 with two home runs and two triples in a game against Rhode Island, accumulating 14 total bases, the fifth-highest single game total in Owls’ history… Drove in a total of nine runs that day against Rhode Island -- second-highest single total in school history (and one behind the Rice record of 10 set by his father in 1995) ... A clutch hitter in 2019, he batted .424 (25-of-59) with runners in scoring position… ... He turned or started 28 of the team’s 41 double plays.

2018 summer with the PUF Capitalists: Competed in summer ball in the California Collegiate League ... In 35 games, he batted .322 with 39 hits, 37 runs and 19 stolen bases …

2018 spring as a freshman with the Rice: Started 58 contests at second base… Topped the team with 40 walks and shared the team lead with 45 RBIs … Tallied two or more RBIs in a game a team-best 12 times … Batted .315 with runners on base and .328 with men in scoring position … Had 19 multi-hit games … During one stretch, he reached base in 15 straight games … At second, he turned or started 35 of the Owls’ 46 double plays.

2017 as a senior at Episcopal High School: Led team with .458 batting average ... His last at bat was a game-winning home run in extra innings to win the state championship ... Competed at the Blue Jays Academy Tournament 12.

Honours

2019 : All-Conference USA (second team) … Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week … C-USA Hitter of the Week ... 2018 _ Freshman All-America Team (Collegiate Baseball) … Conference USA All-Freshman Team ... 2017 _ Named to the Preseason All-Greater Houston team … Named Perfect Game Honorable Mention All-America … Named to first team All-Southwest Preparatory Conference (SPC) and to the league’s all-tournament team