Fernando Cruz Diagnosed With Partial UCL Tear

Yankees setup man Fernando Cruz has a partially torn UCL, manager Aaron Boone informed reporters after tonight’s win over the Astros (relayed by Brendan Kuty of The Athletic). The righty is seeking additional opinions as he weighs whether he’ll require surgery.

In either case, it’s difficult to imagine Cruz pitching again this season. Surgery would very likely rule him out for all of 2027 as well. That’d undoubtedly be true if he requires a full Tommy John reconstruction. If the partial tear allows him to go the internal brace route, he’d have an outside chance of making a return in September ’27.

Cruz has been New York’s top righty setup arm all season. Only closer David Bednar has come into higher-leverage spots on average. Cruz’s 19 holds have him second on the club behind lefty Brent Headrick. He had only blown three leads coming into August. Cruz clearly hasn’t been right lately, giving up three leads while allowing six runs on eight hits (including four homers) across eight innings this month.

The 36-year-old Cruz entered August with a 2.51 earned run average and 29% strikeout rate. He’s still carrying a solid 3.13 ERA despite the shaky recent form. Opponents haven’t had any luck against his elite splitter. They’ve had much more success against his fastball, which is averaging 93 mph after sitting in the 94-95 range in previous seasons.

Cruz’s injury deals a major hit to one of baseball’s best bullpens. Only the Red Sox have a lower reliever ERA than New York’s 3.06 mark. The Yankees are middle of the pack in strikeout rate but again have one of the game’s most grounder-heavy relief groups. Cruz, Bednar, and Headrick are their only big swing-and-miss arms.

The Yankees opted not to make any moves on the pitching staff at the deadline, prioritizing an offense that has really struggled since the Aaron Judge injury. They’ve seen each of Max Fried, Ryan Weathers and Cruz land on the IL within the past couple weeks. Fried could be back as soon as this weekend, but Weathers has a longer timeline after suffering a forearm strain.

New York could use Weathers in a relief role if he returns before the end of the season. He’d pair with Headrick as a high-octane tandem from the left side. Paul Blackburn now looks like their best right-handed matchup arm, while recent signees Michael Fulmer and Justin Topa could quickly find themselves in meaningful spots.

Fried’s return should bump Elmer Rodríguez out of the rotation, but he could compete for a spot in the playoff bullpen. Clarke Schmidt is nearing a minor league rehab assignment and said this week that he’s hoping to return as a reliever (link via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com).