Nelson Cruz And Hamstring At Odds Again

The Rangers managed to batter Angels' co-aces Dan Haren and Jered Weaver over the weekend to reclaim a three game lead over their division foes but didn't escape the series unscathed. Outfielder Nelson Cruz pulled up lame on the basepath Sunday night and left the game. Cruz, playing in his 113th game of the season, was getting dangerously close to his career high 128 games played set in 2009 and his disgruntled hamstring had had enough of that nonsense.

Cruz and his hamstring have been mired in many domestic disputes for years now presumably over the choices the former has made about couches for their Texas abode. There's also the matter of running which Cruz's hamstring is adamantly against and was disappointed it had to bring it up again. Nevertheless, Cruz forced the issue on Sunday after he tried to stretch a hit into a double and his hamstring responded by tightening up as if it was preparing for prison rape.

After some tests, it appears Cruz will miss three weeks with the strain and was injected with platelet-rich plasma to speed the recovery. When reached for comment, Cruz's hamstring yelled out a few obscenities and blamed "Two and a Half Men" creator Chuck Lorre for ruining its acting career. Doctors explained the hamstring was suffering from exhaustion and was heavily doped up by the plasma.

With 28 home runs, Cruz was close to topping his career high 33 in 2009 but the .270/.322/.531 line wasn't exactly stacking up to his .318/.374/.576 production from last year when his hamstring was rumored to be involved in a torrid love affair with Khloe Kardashian.

How Good Is Nelson Cruz?

The Rangers have a pretty good outfielder playing next to reigning AL MVP, Josh Hamilton. Nelson Cruz is seeing the ball decently to kick off the 2011 season. He's hit a home run in each of the Rangers' first four games and his .429/.500/1.286 slash line makes me "Barry Bonds giddy." Cruz has legit power but we've seen crazy Aprils before. Chris Shelton's parents don't even know where he's playing anymore. So this insane start begs the question; how good is Nelson Cruz?

Cruz will turn 31-years-old in August so we pretty much have a finished product at this point. He mainly toiled in AAA until getting a regular spot in the Rangers outfield in 2009. Well, that's not entirely true. He managed 333 plate appearances in 2007 but put up a less than inspiring .235/.287/.384 line that only Brandon Wood is jealous of.

In 2009, Cruz was given the keys to right field and did not disappoint. He hit 33 home runs, stole 20 bases, recorded a .260/.332/.524 line all while not wandering the field like a drunken hobo. He was poised for an even better 2010 if several trips to the disabled list didn't crush the hopes for my fantasy baseball team. Cruz only made it to the plate 445 times but raked for most of it. He went yard 22 times and put together a .318/.374/.576 line for a career best 5.1 WAR.

This year, he looks like an MVP. If he can avoid another three DL stints, I expect his power to keep him in the MVP mix for 2011. PECOTA doesn't necessarily agree with me, projecting 28 homers and .275/.346/.516 over the course of 531 plate appearances. I'm a tad more optimistic (I know, strange for me) and think he'll be closer to 34 bombs and a .360-ish OBP.

Cruz should be able to keep this production up for at least a few more season especially with the advantage of playing half of his games in Arlington. But a Carlos Lee fall from productivity wouldn't surprise me either. Luckily for the Rangers, Cruz hits arbitration for the first time after this season. While he's in for a hefty raise, they don't need to shell out a 6-year, $100 million contract unless Nolan Ryan goes crazy from Mad Cow disease which I assume still exists in Texas.

Oh, and to answer the question, Nelson Cruz is pretty good. I'd put his Fangraphs page on my refrigerator. What? I can't be the only person who does that, right?