Fantasy Baseball: Sell High on Nelson Cruz

By Adam Rickert on Thursday, May 29th 2014
Fantasy Baseball: Sell High on Nelson Cruz

Here is a story you do not hear very often: a player comes back from a year shortened by suspensions due to PEDs, and has the best season of his career...at age 33.

That's exactly what Baltimore Orioles outfielder/designated hitter Nelson Cruz is doing this season. After missing the last 50 games of 2013 due to involvement in the Biogenesis PED clinic, many expected Cruz's stats to drop off. After all, 33 is right around the age a player's career numbers will begin to drop, and who knew how much of Cruz's past success was due to taking PEDs?

There were positive signs, however, for Cruz going into the 2014 season. Oriole Park at Camden Yards is a hitter-friendly ballpark and Baltimore also boasts one of the more stacked lineups in the Major Leagues, ensuring that Cruz would have support surrounding him in the batting order.

What Cruz has done, however, has clearly exceeded everyone's expectations. Through May 28, he is hitting .300 with seventeen homers and 46 RBI. In fact, he leads baseball in home runs and trails Miami Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton by just three for the RBI lead.

Cruz has been known for his power numbers before, but the high average is something completely new. He has been a sure bet to hit in the .260s in nearly every season of his career; in fact, he has only hit over .266 in one season in which he has played over 100 games: 2008, when he hit an uncharacteristic .318, but only in 108 games.

Has Cruz had a career resurgence since putting on the Baltimore orange and black? Is a change of scenery all he needed to turn himself into such a complete hitter? Perhaps, but the .300 average seems a little suspicious.

Oh yeah, and the Camden Yards thing? Oddly enough, Cruz is hitting just .256 at home. It seems as if playing in a hitter's park is clearly not the reason for his hot start.

Sell Cruz while his numbers look irresistable. He still may continue to pop home runs at a consistent pace, but that batting average will most certainly decrease within the next month or two.

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