Nelson Cruz, the Nationals’ 41-year-old, 18-year veteran DH was starting to pick things up at the plate recently, as the club highlighted in their pregame notes for last night’s matchup in Miami.
“[Cruz] has hit safely in 7 of [his] last 9 games: 11-for-33 (.333) with 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 4 BB, 6 R,” in that stretch, the Nationals noted, and he was originally penciled in as the DH for the visiting team in loanDepot park, but he was scratched late with an illness according to his manager, Davey Martinez.
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Reporters on the scene in the Marlins’ home noted they’d seen Cruz leave the clubhouse with a mask on, and as Martinez later acknowledged, they just wanted to get him out of the stadium and away from his teammates until they can figure out what’s wrong.