On Tuesday-evening, Cincinnati Reds prodigy Elly De La Cruz made his big league-debut, hit a rocket double for his first MLB hit and going 1 for 3 with two walks against the Los Angeles Dodgers. De La Cruz is the number 2 in the game and a budding superstar thanks to his erratic combination of strength and speed.
On Wednesday, De La Cruz hit his first big league home run against Dodgers rightman Noah Syndergaard (GameTracker), and it was an absolute bomb: 458 feet and 114.8 mph off the bat. He almost hit it out of Great American Ball Park. The ball landed in the last row of the left field stands. To look at:
The 458-homer is the longest by a Red since Joey Votto hit a 466-footer on September 27, 2021, and is the sixth-longest by a Reds player in the Statcast era (since 2015). The 114.8 mph runout speed is the second hardest by a Reds player in the Statcast era — Aristides Aquino hit a ball at 118.3 mph on August 8, 2018. De La Cruz already hits balls like few Reds do have done.
Two innings after his first big league homer, De La Cruz hit his first career triple, also off Syndergaard. You have already seen the power. Now this is the speed:
De La Cruz, who is officially listed at 6 feet 2 inches and 200 lbs., took home third place in 10.83 seconds, according to Statcast. It’s the fastest home-to-third time in the majors this season, narrowly trailing Arizona Diamondbacks phenom Corbin Carroll (10.97 seconds). De La Cruz is simply a marvel. So much power, so much speed, so much electricity in this game.
Here’s what you need to know about young Mr. De La Cruz:
Since returning from a hamstring injury in late April, the switch-hitting De La Cruz hit the Triple-A pitching and sparked one of the hardest contacts organized baseball will see all year. Lest that be read as an exaggeration, his power performances so far this season have included more than a handful of batted balls with exit speeds north of 115 mph.
In other words, De La Cruz has both elite strength and near-elite speed. (In one game this season, he stole third base with no throw when a catcher made a wanton return toss to the pitcher.) Scouts have warmed up to De La Cruz staying at shortstop, but they’re not over his swing yet. and-miss tendencies, especially against left-handed pitching. There’s a good chance he’ll be a rated switch hitter who does most of his damage against right-handers. That’s fine, all things considered, since De La Cruz still has one of the highest ceilings in baseball.
A natural shortstop, De La Cruz made his MLB debut at third base in deference to shortstop Matt McLain, who himself is a highly regarded prospect. De La Cruz is on shortstop Wednesday with McLain at DH. How the Reds juggle their positions and playing time remains to be seen, but De La Cruz and McLain are the future of the lineup and will play every game.
The Reds entered the game on Wednesday with a 28-33 record. They are just five games out in NL Central and four games out of the National League’s third and final wild card spot. In addition to De La Cruz and McLain, Cincinnati also recently called up touted left-handers Andrew Abbott and Brandon Williamson.