Nelson Cruz

StaTuesday: Cruz goes off as Twins reach another milestone

Published Jul. 30, 2019 1:13 p.m. ET

Ryan Lund

Max Kepler did the honors Friday, hitting the Minnesota Twins' 200th home run during a 6-2 win over the Chicago White Sox.

They're the first team ever to reach 200 home runs before Aug. 1, and are up to 205 homers after mashing their way to an 11-1 win over the White Sox on Sunday.

Signed to a five-year extension in the offseason, Kepler, 26, should be a Twins' fixture for years to come.

Designated hitter Nelson Cruz, who turned 39 earlier this month, might be approaching the end of his 15-year career, but he's been leading the squad in recent weeks.

Cruz was named the American League's player of the week Monday for the sixth time in his career after hitting seven home runs in seven games, including the first three-homer game of his career.

He hit all three off the otherwise reliable Lucas Giolito, an All-Star following a red-hot first half, in consecutive at-bats.

Cruz went yard in five straight games from July 22-26, and is up to 26 home runs on the season, which trails only Kepler for the Twins lead.

That five-game streak is tied for the longest in Twins history, matching Brian Dozier, Marty Cordova, and Harmon Killebrew.

No slugger in the majors has been hotter over the past week.

HOME RUNS SINCE JULY 22

PLAYER	TEAM	G	BA	OBP	OPS	SLG	H	HR
Nelson Cruz	MIN	7	.414	.485	1.657	1.172	12	7
Paul Goldschmidt	STL	7	.345	.387	1.353	.966	10	6
Jose Ramirez	CLE	7	.400	.441	1.341	.900	12	4
Rougned Odor	TEX	7	.321	.367	1.117	.750	9	4
Eugenio Suarez	CIN	7	.346	.370	1.217	.846	9	4
Miguel Sano	MIN	7	.333	.379	1.157	.778	9	4
Max Kepler	MIN	7	.231	.355	1.086	.731	6	4

"Boomstick" isn't exactly slowing down either.

A whopping 18.4% of Cruz's fly balls have gone out this season, up from 16.7% a year ago, when he hit 37 home runs for the Seattle Mariners, and well above his career average of 14.6%.

He's hit a home run on 7.6% of his plate appearances this season after finishing last season at 6.3% through 144 games.

Meanwhile, his barrel percentage, exit velocity, and hard hit percentage all rate in the top 1% league-wide.

	Pitches	Batted balls	Barrels	Barrel %	Exit velo.	Hard hit %
2018	2282	400	55	13.8	93.9	51.3
2019	1418	204	42	20.6	94.2	52.9

So while the Twins' future centers around Kepler and co., Cruz still has a few "bombas" left in the tank.

Statistics via Sportradar and Baseball Savant

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Nelson Cruz

Minnesota Twins