Nelson Cruz

Designated Hitter · Career Stats, Bio & Records (2005-2023)

AVG .274
HR 464
RBI 1,325
H 2,053
OPS .856
PIV 25,334
Position
Designated Hitter
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
6'2" / 230 lb
Born
7/1/1980 in Monte Cristi, Monte Cristi, D.R.
MLB Debut
2005-09-17
Last Game
2023-07-03
Awards
7× All-Star · ALCS MVP · 4× Silver Slugger · Roberto Clemente Award

Full name: Nelson Ramon Cruz

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Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
2,055 7,501 1,090 2,053 372 15 464 1,325 84 738 1,916 .274 .343 .513 .856 25,334

Career AVG .274 vs. league average .255 across their career seasons — +7.2% above league average.

Career OBP .343 vs. league average .323 across their career seasons — +6.2% above league average.

Career SLG .513 vs. league average .412 across their career seasons — +24.5% above league average.

Career OPS .856 vs. league average .735 across their career seasons — +16.5% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
2005 MIL NL 8 5 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 .200 — — — — 0.0
2006 TEX AL 41 130 15 29 3 0 6 22 1 7 32 .223 .269 (-17%) .336 (-22%) .431 (-11%) .768 (-16%) -374.9
2007 TEX AL 96 307 35 72 15 2 9 34 2 21 87 .235 .268 (-13%) .335 (-15%) .422 (-9%) .758 (-11%) -628.4
2008 TEX AL 31 115 19 38 9 1 7 26 3 17 28 .330 .263 (+25%) .333 (+26%) .416 (+46%) .749 (+37%) 777.4
2009 TEX AL 128 462 75 120 21 1 33 76 20 49 118 .260 .262 (-1%) .332 (avg) .417 (+25%) .750 (+14%) 1233.9
2010 TEX AL 108 399 60 127 31 3 22 78 17 38 81 .318 .257 (+24%) .325 (+15%) .402 (+43%) .728 (+30%) 2208.7
2011 TEX AL 124 475 64 125 28 1 29 87 9 33 116 .263 .255 (+3%) .320 (-3%) .399 (+28%) .719 (+14%) 1125.3
2012 TEX AL 159 585 86 152 45 0 24 90 8 48 140 .260 .254 (+2%) .318 (avg) .405 (+13%) .724 (+8%) 807.0
2013 TEX AL 109 413 49 110 18 0 27 76 5 35 109 .266 .253 (+5%) .317 (+3%) .396 (+28%) .714 (+17%) 1215.3
2014 BAL AL 159 613 87 166 32 2 40 108 4 55 140 .271 .251 (+8%) .313 (+6%) .386 (+36%) .700 (+23%) 2624.5
2015 SEA AL 152 590 90 178 22 1 44 93 3 59 164 .302 .254 (+19%) .316 (+17%) .404 (+40%) .721 (+30%) 3599.2
2016 SEA AL 155 589 96 169 27 1 43 105 2 62 159 .287 .255 (+12%) .321 (+12%) .417 (+33%) .738 (+24%) 2907.2
2017 SEA AL 155 556 91 160 28 0 39 119 1 70 140 .288 .254 (+13%) .324 (+16%) .425 (+29%) .750 (+23%) 2822.6
2018 SEA AL 144 519 70 133 18 1 37 97 1 55 122 .256 .247 (+3%) .318 (+7%) .409 (+24%) .727 (+17%) 1826.0
2019 MIN AL 120 454 81 141 26 0 41 108 0 56 131 .311 .252 (+23%) .322 (+22%) .434 (+47%) .757 (+36%) 3369.3
2020 MIN AL 53 185 33 56 6 0 16 33 0 25 58 .303 .244 (+24%) .321 (+23%) .417 (+42%) .739 (+34%) 1185.7
2021 MIN AL 85 296 44 87 13 1 19 50 3 35 63 .294 .243 (+21%) .317 (+17%) .410 (+31%) .727 (+25%) 1350.7
2021 TBA AL 55 217 35 49 8 0 13 36 0 16 63 .226 .243 (-7%) .317 (-11%) .410 (+8%) .727 (avg) 1350.7
2022 WAS NL 124 448 50 105 16 0 10 64 4 49 119 .234 .242 (-3%) .311 (+1%) .394 (-15%) .706 (-8%) -455.2
2023 SDN NL 49 143 9 35 5 1 5 23 1 6 46 .245 .248 (-1%) .320 (-12%) .414 (-4%) .734 (-7%) -193.8
Career · 20 seasons 2,055 7,501 1,090 2,053 372 15 464 1,325 84 738 1,916 .274 — — — — 26,751

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
50 187 35 52 12 0 18 38 19 45 .278

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
2021 ALDS2 TBA 4 17 2 3 0 0 1 1 1 5 .176
2020 ALWC3 MIN 2 6 0 2 2 0 0 2 2 1 .333
2019 ALDS2 MIN 3 10 2 2 0 0 1 1 4 3 .200
2014 ALCS BAL 4 16 1 4 1 0 0 2 2 2 .250
2014 ALDS2 BAL 3 12 4 6 0 0 2 5 0 3 .500
2012 ALWC TEX 1 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500
2011 ALCS TEX 6 22 7 8 2 0 6 13 2 4 .364
2011 ALDS2 TEX 4 15 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 .067
2011 WS TEX 7 25 5 5 0 0 2 3 5 5 .200
2010 ALCS TEX 6 20 6 7 3 0 2 5 3 6 .350
2010 ALDS1 TEX 5 20 5 8 2 0 3 3 0 6 .400
2010 WS TEX 5 20 2 4 2 0 1 3 0 5 .200

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (2054 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home104637625571047230679.278
Away100837355331006234646.269

Last 10 Games — Batting

DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
2023-07-03 SDPLAAW 200000001
2023-07-02 SDPCINL 300000003
2023-07-01 SDPCINW 502000000
2023-06-30 SDPCINL 100000000
2023-06-27 SDPPITL 402000100
2023-06-25 SDPWASL 402000000
2023-06-23 SDPWASW 501000202
2023-06-22 SDPSFGW 301100211
2023-06-21 SDPSFGL 200000002
2023-06-18 SDPTBRW 000000010

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 2 1 8 0 0 0
OF 970 937 1962 51 34 11

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
2005 MIL OF 8 1 4 0 0 0
2006 TEX OF 39 35 69 4 0 1
2007 TEX OF 94 79 167 6 5 1
2008 TEX OF 31 31 72 1 2 1
2009 TEX OF 122 119 301 11 4 2
2010 TEX OF 101 101 250 3 5 1
2011 TEX OF 115 114 244 6 6 1
2012 TEX OF 151 148 288 9 4 2
2013 TEX OF 102 102 195 1 3 0
2014 BAL OF 70 70 132 2 0 0
2015 SEA OF 80 80 151 6 4 1
2016 SEA OF 48 48 76 2 1 1
2017 SEA OF 5 5 7 0 0 0
2018 SEA OF 4 4 6 0 0 0
2021 TBA 1B 1 1 7 0 0 0
2023 SDN 1B 1 0 1 0 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
First Base 2
Left Field 119
Center Field 2
Right Field 881
Designated Hitter 1046

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
2021 Roberto Clemente Award
2020 All-MLB Team - Second Team DH
2020 MLB Players Choice Man of the Year
2020 Player of the Week Week of 2020-07-25
2020 Silver Slugger DH
2020 TSN All-Star DH
2019 All-MLB Team - First Team DH
2019 Outstanding DH Award
2019 Player of the Week Week of 2019-07-27
2019 Silver Slugger DH
2019 TSN All-Star DH
2018 Player of the Week Week of 2018-06-23
2017 Outstanding DH Award
2017 Silver Slugger DH
2017 TSN All-Star DH
2015 Player of the Month April
2015 Player of the Week Week of 2015-04-19
2015 Silver Slugger OF
2014 Player of the Week Week of 2014-06-01
2014 Player of the Week Week of 2014-09-07
2011 ALCS MVP
2010 Player of the Week Week of 2010-05-23

Salary History

Year Team League Salary
2016 SEA AL $14,250,000
2015 SEA AL $14,250,000
2014 BAL AL $8,000,000
2013 TEX AL $10,250,000
2012 TEX AL $6,250,000
2011 TEX AL $3,650,000
2010 TEX AL $440,000
2009 TEX AL $408,070
2007 TEX AL $382,000
Total Career Earnings $57,880,070

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
2020 Most Valuable Player AL 6th 128.0 420 0
2019 Most Valuable Player AL 9th 62.0 420 0
2017 Most Valuable Player AL 10th 44.0 420 0
2016 Most Valuable Player AL 15th 6.0 420 0
2015 Most Valuable Player AL 6th 94.0 420 0
2014 Most Valuable Player AL 7th 102.0 420 0

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Nelson Cruz (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Harold Baines HOF
    .289 avg, 384 HR
  2. 95
    David Ortiz HOF
    .286 avg, 541 HR
  3. 94
    Victor Martinez
    .295 avg, 246 HR
  4. 92
    Andre Thornton
    .254 avg, 253 HR
  5. 92
    Mike Sweeney
    .297 avg, 215 HR
  6. 92
    Brian Downing
    .267 avg, 275 HR

Compare Nelson Cruz

Side-by-side career stat comparisons against Cruz's closest peers by position and era.

vs Mike Trout
vs Aaron Judge
vs Bryce Harper
vs Matt Holliday
vs Ryan Braun
vs Mookie Betts

Browse all MLB player comparisons →

Frequently Asked Questions about Nelson Cruz

What years did Nelson Cruz play?
Nelson Cruz played in Major League Baseball from 2005 to 2023.
Was Nelson Cruz a pitcher?
No. Nelson Cruz was a position player (Designated Hitter).
How many home runs did Nelson Cruz hit?
Nelson Cruz hit 464 career home runs with 2053 hits.