Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz was the talk of the team at spring training on Tuesday after a wild incident involving himself and former No. 2 draft pick Hunter Greene.
During a live batting practice session with Greene on the mound, De La Cruz launched a foul ball out of the stadium and into the nearby parking lot where players park their cars. In a most forlorn occurrence, the foul ball just so happened to slam into Greene’s car and crack one of his back windows.
The pitcher wasn’t immediately aware of the result of that foul ball, but after finding out what had happened to his window, Greene could be heard shouting at De La Cruz.
“You’re paying for that!” Greene yelled, per Jeremy Rauch of Fox 19.
Story time.
— Jeremy Rauch (@FOX19Jeremy) February 20, 2024
In Hunter Greene’s showdown with Elly De La Cruz, Elly hit a foul ball to the player’s parking lot.
His ball smashed Hunter Greene’s window.
It’s the talk of camp right now.
Hunter yelled at Elly after finding out: “You’re paying for that!” #Reds @FOX19 pic.twitter.com/Ux161NXjjV
Greene is one of baseball’s hardest-throwing pitchers, so there’s a good chance this foul ball was sizzling off De La Cruz’s bat, especially considering the shortstop was consistently around the league lead in exit velocity during his rookie season in 2023.
Although Greene struck out De La Cruz in their first live batting practice matchup of the spring, he’ll probably be wishing he could’ve prevented the ill-fated foul ball that resulted in him being down one window on his car.