The San Diego Padres signed seven-time All-Star Nelson Cruz this past offseason. Cruz spent the 2022 season with the Washington Nationals and signed as a free agent in January with the gold and brown.
The 42-year-old is coming off a tough season with the Nationals, as the Nationals were the worst team in the league, and Cruz's numbers were low across the board, including his OPS, which was his lowest since 2006.
A big reason for that was caused by a loose flap of skin that impaired his vision. His eye problem arose sometime in 2018 and was really bad by 2022. Cruz spoke with Padres insider Kevin Acee and said his eye is back to normal.
“My eye is normal now,” he said. “That’s what it is.”
“Once I came to spring training, I started to see breaking balls better and I can recognize breaking balls and lay off those ones and actually see it and hit it,” he said. “During the offseason I was hitting (against) machines, and it was nice to see breaking balls. But once you do it in the real games, that’s when it matters.”
The four-time silver slugger had surgery in October to remove the extraneous skin. It was not visible to the naked eye, but Cruz felt it, and that diminished his play heavily.
From August 2021 to September 2022, Nelson slashed .236/.310/.354 with a .665 OPS. Even at an older age, it was very unlike Cruz to play so poorly. However, those days are behind him, and he is playing great as a part of the San Diego organization. Through five games, Cruz has been slashing .350/.381/.750 with a 1.131 OPS, along with two home runs and nine RBIs.
We're glad Cruz is back to normal, and we're happy he is playing tremendously with the Padres. What a pick up!
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