The Reds are among the hottest teams in baseball—and their electrifying rookie Elly De La Cruz is a major reason why.
Cincinnati beat the Rockies on Monday night, 5–4, to stretch its winning streak to nine games. Since De La Cruz was called up to the majors on June 6, the Reds are 11–2. They’ve gone from five games under .500 to three games over, with Monday night’s win putting them in first place in the NL Central for the first time since April 3.
De La Cruz has earned a reputation for combining power and speed like few players in the league can. And while he hasn’t shown off the full potential of his power as a big leaguer yet (he has just one extra-base hit in his last 10 games), he’s turning plenty of heads with his speed. Just check out this play from the game against Colorado.
Every day, Elly De La Cruz finds a new way to electrify the entire stadium with his speed.
— Willie Lutz (@willie_lutz) June 20, 2023
The poor Rockies first baseman just had to look on in awe. pic.twitter.com/1McEstHXD3
Groundballs don’t get any more routine than that. It was hit softly (80.5 mph exit velocity) but it still should have been an easy play for third baseman Mike Moustakas. Not with De La Cruz’s speed, though. He beat the throw to first easily, and fans couldn’t believe it.
I’ve never seen plays like these https://t.co/rWrfRajQZ2
— Scott Nelson (@snelson2127) June 20, 2023
Nolan Jones was STUNNED. Wish his face was toward the camera cause I know that jaw was on the dirt https://t.co/bT3P2X4fxI
— Coach Terry (@francescotnova) June 20, 2023
It’s actually insane how fast he is to first base https://t.co/ztKWpQHrmE
— Chase Claypool’s #1 Fan (@BigBlewsh) June 20, 2023
Good lord lol https://t.co/EEcEgyltFc
— Jon R (@jrick45) June 20, 2023
As impressive as that was, it’s becoming routine for De La Cruz to make plays with his legs that few others can. On Sunday in Houston, he got a single on a grounder hit to first base after he dove headfirst into the bag. In Cincinnati’s 4–3 win over the Cardinals on June 11, he reached on another grounder to first and scored the winning run when he bolted home on a grounder to shortstop with the infield in.
“I am the fastest man in the world,” De La Cruz said on June 10. It’s tough to disagree with him.
