PRICELESS

MLB Star Power Index: In praise of Nelson Cruz and the Twins' sacred home run robe, September 25, 2020

Nelson Cruz is a Dominican-American professional baseball right fielder and designated hitter for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball. He previously played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, and Seattle Mariners. Cruz played 881 games in right field, 119 in left, 2 in center and 582 at DH through 2018.

Cruz is a six-time MLB All-Star. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2011 American League Championship Series, in which he hit six home runs and recorded 13 runs batted in, both MLB records for a single postseason series. In 2014, he led the American League in home runs as a member of the Orioles.

Cruz was selected as an All-Star in 2017 for the fifth time in his career. On July 7, he hit his 300th career home run in a Mariners win over the Oakland Athletics. Cruz led the AL in RBIs with 119, and led the Mariners in home runs (39), runs scored (91), extra base hits (67), walks (70), OPS (.924), on-base percentage (.375), and slugging percentage (.549). He won the Edgar Martínez Award, also known as the Outstanding Designated Hitter Award.

Cruz was named to the 2018 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. He batted .256 for the season. He was the 8th-oldest player in the American League