De La Cruz begins his first season with the Ducks and first in professional baseball. He took part in the Atlantic League’s Open Player Tryout in Florida in March of 2021. The Florida resident played his collegiate baseball at Oklahoma Wesleyan University in Bartlesville, Okla., and Keiser University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. During the 2019 season at Keiser, he batted .352 with seven home runs, 34 RBIs, 17 runs, 57 hits, nine doubles and a .415 on-base percentage in 47 games. In 2018 at Oklahoma Wesleyan, the 24-year-old posted a .354 batting average with two homers, 38 RBIs, seven doubles and two triples over 36 games. A native of the Bronx, N.Y., he played his high school baseball at the George Washington Educational Campus.