Cruz’s hot streak boosting Nationals’ lineup — and potentially his trade value

With a hitter as old as Nelson Cruz, a performance decline is inevitable. 

It happens to the best of hitters. Just look at Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera. Arguably the two best hitters of their generation, Pujols, 42, and Cabrera, 39, are shells of their former elite selves. In the past six years, Cabrera has been a league-average hitter, while Pujols, now back with the Cardinals for his last hurrah, has hit below .250 in every season since 2017. 

Through the first month of the season, it looked as if 2022 would be the year that Cruz, 41, finally started to slow down — just like Pujols, Cabrera and many sluggers before him. The designated hitter, who the Nationals signed in the offseason to a one-year, $15 million contract, hit just .143 with two home runs in his first 24 games. 

But, in the last month, Cruz has been one of the best hitters in baseball, smashing the ball all over the park to give life to the heart of the Nationals’ lineup and maybe even boosting his trade value. 

During Cruz’s rough first month, he uncharacteristically chased pitches out of the zone and hit too many ground balls. But manager Dave Martinez was never worried about whether Cruz would get back on track.

“Somebody asked me yesterday: ‘Were you ever concerned that he wasn’t going to hit?’ And I quickly answered no,” Martinez said. “I’ve seen this guy for many years. He’s a pure hitter. He understands how to hit. He understands who he is.”

His hot streak started May 20, when Cruz tallied two hits to start a 10-game hitting streak. Cruz, who has split his time between the third and fourth spots in the lineup, entered that game hitting a paltry .182. But he’s been unstoppable since with a .419 average and a 1.123 on-base plus slugging in his last 21 games. He’s now hitting .267 with a .755 OPS — both above league average.

“Now, you’re just seeing what he can do when he’s really squaring the ball up and when his timing is right,” Martinez said. “He knew it would come. He just had to get his timing and get everything right. It was just a matter of time.”

Cruz’s improvement isn’t just a boon for the struggling Nationals (23-39) and their lineup, but also for general manager Mike Rizzo, who could look to trade the slugger at the deadline in exchange for a prospect. 

When Cruz was signed, some were perplexed why a rebuilding club would pay for an aging slugger, albeit one of the best power hitters in baseball for the last decade. But, on top of his benefits to the lineup and as a veteran presence in a young clubhouse, Cruz is a player who could net a solid prospect at the deadline, especially with both leagues now employing designated hitters. 

Last summer, for example, Cruz was traded from the Twins to the Rays for minor league pitching prospect Joe Ryan. Now, with eight starts under his belt, Ryan has been one of the best starters in the major leagues, posting a 2.28 earned run average and a 5-2 record for Minnesota. 

If the Nationals can even come close to replicating that trade, Cruz’s improved performance was a must. Rizzo said on 106.7 The Fan last week that the Nationals will likely be “careful sellers” at the deadline and said players on expiring contracts, like Cruz, could be on the block. 

“I would assume that if we’re playing at the rate we’re playing, we’ll probably be careful sellers and make sure that we maximize the players at least with expiring contracts,” Rizzo said. 

Martinez predicted in late May that Cruz’s power would return as the weather started to warm up, and this weekend’s series win against the Brewers was exactly what the skipper ordered. Cruz smashed homers and totaled three RBIs in each of the first two games, both Nationals wins. On Friday, he sprayed a season-high four opposite-field hits, and a day later, he sandwiched a long ball between shots from Juan Soto and Josh Bell for back-to-back-to-back home runs.

“During the winter, when we put these guys together and signed Nelly [Cruz], this is kind of what we envisioned,” Martinez said Saturday. “Now the vision is coming true. I love it.”

Cruz continued his prowess at the plate Sunday in the Nationals’ 4-1 loss to the Brewers, going 1-for-3 with a walk. But the best hitter at Nationals Park was Milwaukee shortstop Willy Adames, who doubled home a run in the third and smashed a two-run blast in the fifth to prevent Washington from earning its first series sweep of the year. 

In his first start of the season, mop-up reliever Paolo Espino took the loss for the Nationals, allowing one run in 3 2/3 innings. The Nationals’ lone run came on a Josh Bell sacrifice fly in the fifth. Brewers DH Andrew McCutchen capped off the game’s scoring with a solo homer in the ninth. 

Washington is back at Nationals Park on Monday to kick off a three-game series against the Braves.