Joe Cruz was drafted in the 30th round of the 2007 draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. That draft included current Rays pitchers David Price and Matt Moore. While he was a late pick, Cruz started to turn heads in 2010 when he went 13-6 with a 2.85 ERA at High-A Charlotte. That was good enough for him to lead the Florida State league in wins and rank second in ERA thanks to his mid-90’s fastball.

In 2011 things turned for the worse as he struggle with shoulder problems that continued to plague him into 2012 and eventually required surgery causing him to miss the last 6 six weeks of the 2012 season, his last in the Rays organization.

Last season he made a return to the mound making two starts with the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks going 0-1 with a 4.66 ERA.