Elly De La Cruz hits first home run 458 feet in second MLB appearance
Welcome to the show, Elly De La Cruz.
On the heels of his impressive MLB and Cincinnati Reds debut Tuesday, the 21-year-old third baseman one-upped himself Wednesday. In his first at-bat, De La Cruz went yard off Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard — a 458-foot blast that nearly left Great American Ball Park.
The home run, 114.8 mph off the bat, is the first of hopefully many in De La Cruz’s career, one of the top prospects in all of MLB. It’s the fifth-furthest home run by any left-handed hitter at Great American Ball Park in the Statcast era (2015).
De La Cruz didn’t let up in his next at-bat in the third inning. The 6-foot-5 De La Cruz ripped one to right center and showed off his wheels, legging out a triple. For those keeping count, De La Cruz is halfway home to hitting for the cycle with the two big ones out of the way. Just exactly the type of impact the Reds expected when they called him up from Triple-A Louisville Tuesday.
“We’ve talked about this a lot,” Reds manager David Bell said, via ESPN. “We knew Elly was going to be here. We got to know him in spring training. There’s a lot of players that are young players in our system that are going to be here over time. You don’t know for sure when that’s going to be.
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“A lot of times, they just have to dictate when they’re ready, and that’s what Elly did. He went and played extremely well not only on the field, but just the way he approaches the game and the way he works. All the things that we’re looking for to add a player into our team and help us win.”
Elly De La Cruz impressive in MLB debut
De La Cruz was electric in his debut Tuesday, helping the Reds pick up a 9-8 victory over the Dodgers. He reached base three times, going 1-for-3 with two walks and a run scored. His first-career hit came in the third inning off Dodgers starting pitcher Tony Gonsolin — a one-out double. De La Cruz’s double had an exit velocity of 112 mph, the hardest-hit ball by a Cincinnati player this season. That is, until he topped it with his first inning home run Wednesday.
“What a great swing,” Bell said. “Tough pitch, down 0-2. Elevated fastball that we see so often now. It’s really tough to get to, and he was able to not only get to it, but do some damage with it. It kind of shows where he is now as a hitter.”