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Nationals slugger Nelson Cruz tells Jessica Camerato of MLB.com that he’ll endure surgical procedure on his left eye on the finish of October attributable to some irritation that’s blocking his imaginative and prescient (Twitter links). He expects to renew baseball actions in 6-8 weeks, which ought to give him loads of time to be prepared for Spring Coaching.
“Imaginative and prescient is all the things for hitters,” Cruz says. “However the good factor is, it may be fastened.” Going into extra element, he says: “You may solely see clearly with the best eye. Once I shut this one, it’s not clear. I would like my eyes to be sharp, to have the ability to see the ball, particularly see spins.” Cruz then provides that he estimates the problem has been affecting him for the previous yr and a half, although it received worse not too long ago.
The estimated timeline that Cruz offers is an fascinating one, as that aligns together with his downturn on the plate. He was an above-average hitter for 14 straight years from 2008 to 2021, although he tailed off within the second half of final yr. He started the yr with the Twins and hit .294/.370/.537 for a wRC+ of 142. In July, he was traded to the Rays for Joe Ryan, Drew Strotman and Calvin Faucher. Sadly for Tampa, Cruz’s manufacturing fell off nearly instantly and he ended up hitting .226/.283/.442 as a Ray for a wRC+ of 95.
Regardless of that sluggish end to the season, the rebuilding Nationals gave Cruz a one-year, $15MM deal plus a mutual choice. The Nats didn’t actually have designs on competing however seemingly hoped for Cruz to behave as a mentor to youthful gamers after which play properly sufficient to be flipped for prospects midseason. Main as much as the commerce deadline, there have been some rumors that the Mets have been , however a deal for Cruz by no means got here collectively, seemingly attributable to his subpar efficiency this yr. His batting line for the season is .234/.313/.337 for a wRC+ of 85.
Going into the offseason, Cruz is destined for the open market since mutual choices are nearly by no means picked up by each side. This information about his eye will make his free company an fascinating case to observe. On the one hand, he’s now 42 years previous and has been below-average on the plate for over a yr. He’s strictly a delegated hitter at this level, which means that he holds no worth for groups if he can’t produce on the plate. Nonetheless, if it’s true that the attention challenge was holding him again, it’s attainable that he might return to being a feared slugger like he was within the first few months of final season. He’ll have the subsequent few months to seek out out which golf equipment are keen to take an opportunity on him.
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