De La Cruz carries 10 seasons of professional baseball experience into his first year with the Patriots. Earlier in 2015, he split time between Quintana Roo and Laguna of the Mexican League, where he combined to win three games and strike out 44 batters in 59 innings pitched.

The Dominican Republic native spent the 2014 season in the Baltimore Orioles organization. He appeared in 37 games for Triple-A Norfolk, tallying 49 strikeouts over 49.2 innings of work.

De La Cruz’s best season came in 2013 with Triple-A Albuquerque (Los Angeles Dodgers), where he went 3-1 with a 2.89 ERA, seven saves and 78 strikeouts over 62.1 innings pitched.

The southpaw spent the first six years of his professional career in the Cleveland Indians organization, reaching as high as Double-A Akron three times (2008, 2010, 2011). De La Cruz also spent a season in the Detroit Tigers organization.

The 27-year old holds a 44-43 career minor league record over 233 appearances (122 starts) with a 4.34 ERA, 10 saves and 717 strikeouts over 746.2 innings of work.