SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Nelson Cruz started in right field on Friday, and now he's going to disappear from view for a while.

Cruz, who won't make the trip to Tucson on Saturday, leaves on Sunday to play for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. It could be 3 1/2 weeks before he ever returns to camp. The Rangers insist he does not have to worry about his job still being there when he comes back.

Manager Ron Washington said Cruz will be his right fielder when he returns and will be on Opening Day, April 6, against the Cleveland Indians.

"Yes," Washington said. "Unless he gets hurt. I don't think Nelson has to worry about a thing."

Not even Andruw Jones?

"Let's take it a day at a time," Washington said. "Right now, this is just the third game of the spring. All Nelson has to do is stay healthy and perform. What happens to Jones, we haven't gotten there yet."

What happens if Cruz doesn't perform?

"He will," Washington said. "He came up last year and performed. He did exactly what we felt he could do. Now it's good for him to come into camp, go about his business, relax and get his work done. He's earned it."

There you have it. The Rangers appear to have an excess number of outfielders in camp, and in past years that has spelled trouble for Cruz. This year, that does not appear to be the case.

The Rangers appear committed to Cruz to being their everyday right fielder based on what they saw at the end of last season.

"Nellie has come along way," hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo said.

The breakthrough may have come in the final week of August last season after he was called up from Triple-A Oklahoma. In his first game, he was 3-for-5 with a home run. Then he managed just one hit in his next 16 at-bats, a pattern the Rangers had seen before: a big burst to start out and then an extended slump.

This time he responded, going 13-for-31 with three home runs and eight RBIs in his next nine games, and the anticipated slump was averted. Instead he finished strong, hitting .330 with seven home runs and 26 RBIs in 31 games.

"He made the adjustments he needed," Jaramillo said. "You could see his confidence. Mentally he was trusting himself. When young guys get in trouble, they start thinking about results and get away from their plan. Their old instincts take over instead of sticking to their plan, trusting it and executing it."

Cruz carried it over to winter ball, where he hit .362 with eight home runs and 37 RBIs in 27 games and 105 at-bats. Combine that with the Rangers and his MVP season with Triple-A Oklahoma and Cruz batted .343 with 52 home runs and 156 RBIs in 162 games and 607 at-bats.

He has done everything possible accept grab onto a starting job at the Major League level and hold on to it for an extended period of time. He has yet to play a full season in the big leagues. For four straight seasons, he has split time between the Major Leagues and Triple-A.

"Nobody wants to be up and down like that," Cruz said. "This is the opportunity I want, to be here and play every day."

The Rangers acquired Cruz from the Brewers in a six-player trade on July 28, 2006, and he hit .223 with six home runs and 22 RBIs in 41 games and 130 at-bats in the final two months of the season.

He was supposed to be in the Rangers' starting outfield coming out of 2007 Spring Training but basically was pushed aside by Sammy Sosa. He did make the team but hit .188 when he was sent down on June 5. He was recalled at the end of July and hit .276 over the final two months.

But he was a forgotten man in Spring Training last year. Any team could have claimed him after he was put on outright waivers at the end of spring. Instead he went unwanted and went down to Oklahoma, where he tore apart the Pacific Coast League.

"You need to perform when you get the chance," Cruz said. "I didn't perform."

Now he gets his chance -- really his fourth chance -- to be the Rangers' right fielder, once he returns from the World Baseball Classic. The Rangers vow he won't be forgotten.

"I think the experience in the Classic will help me," Cruz said. "I get to play against great players in different situations in games that really matter. It might be better if I was here so they could see me play regularly, but everybody will be watching the Classic, so the Rangers will be able to see me play."