KANSAS CITY, Mo. —- There could have been 30 individuals inside Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday with a view of the sector, together with a few staff who have been busy hosing off seats hours earlier than the sport, but all would often flip to see the place the ball landed once they heard the crack of the bat.
Inside the cage, hat flipped backward a la Ken Griffey Jr. and with a left-handed swing practically as candy, was the most well liked factor to hit baseball in fairly a while. Elly De La Cruz pounded ropes into the stadium’s large alleys and soared pictures that rattled round within the outfield seats or splashed into the stadium fountains.
An hour later, De La Cruz lastly walked towards the visiting dugout with a couple of of his Cincinnati Reds teammates.
It was 2:58 p.m. First pitch was nonetheless greater than 4 hours away.
Rarely do gamers broadly thought of baseball’s high prospect exceed expectations from Day 1. But even rarer is a expertise like De La Cruz, the 21-year-old switch-hitting infielder whose first week within the main was the stuff of legend.
In his first large league collection, De La Cruz annihilated a 92 mph fastball from Noah Syndergaard, the ball touchdown some 458 toes away and one row from leaving Great American Ball Park fully. In the identical sport in opposition to the Dodgers, the 6-foot-5 phenom went from dwelling to 3rd on a triple quicker than anybody this season. He’s even thrown a 96.6 mph laser to first base for an out.
De La Cruz is simply the second participant since no less than 1900 to have a single, double, triple, homer and stolen base inside their first three video games, in accordance with Elias Sports Bureau. The different was Bill Bruton of the Milwaukee Braves in 1953.
“Yeah,” Reds supervisor David Bell acknowledged, “there’s things that he’s done on the field that are extremely impressive. There’s no question about that. The fun part has been a lot of what he’s been able to do so far had led to helping us be able to win.”
That’s one thing that hasn’t occurred round Cincinnati currently.
The Big Red Machine rusted away a long time in the past, and whereas there have been moments of sudden pleasure – that 1990 World Series title bookended by shedding seasons – heartbreak has been the norm. The Reds misplaced 100 video games final season, their most since 1982, and have had shedding data seven of the previous eight full seasons; their solely playoff journey throughout that span got here throughout the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, once they went 31-29 and have been swept within the wild-card spherical.
There have been skills through the years which have had Cincinnati buzzing, and Joey Votto and Johnny Cueto are amongst people who panned out. Just as many by no means lived as much as the hype: Brandon Larson, Christopher Gruler and Ryan Wagner amongst them.
Perhaps that tremendous line between success and failure is why De La Cruz was again on the ballpark so early Tuesday.
He had gone 0 for five in a collection opener in opposition to the Kansas City Royals, placing out twice and searching misplaced and confused, however already he was constructing his confidence again. With shades driving excessive on his ball cap, but by no means wiggling his head was so nonetheless, he regularly pounded balls to all elements of the sector as a handful of teammates watched.
“There’s definitely adjustment. There’s a transition,” Bell mentioned. “He wants to make sure he’s doing the right thing around the clubhouse. This is all very new. Again, I keep going back to the ease of the transition. A lot of that has to do with how well he was prepared by people throughout our organization, and just in general, not being afraid to ask questions.”
De La Cruz has been with the Reds since 2018, when he signed as a global free agent at 16 years previous. He made his professional debut the next yr within the Dominican Summer League, however he didn’t play in any respect in 2020 when the minor league season was canceled by the pandemic. He was nonetheless taking part in rookie ball two years in the past earlier than lastly graduating to the Class-A degree.
By that time, although, his skill had develop into obvious.
De La Cruz cut up time final yr between Class-A Dayton and Double-A Chattanooga, the place he impressed sufficient to symbolize the Reds within the All-Star Futures Game. When autumn rolled round, the membership put him on their 40-man roster to guard him from the Rule 5 draft, then watched him impress once more this previous spring coaching earlier than sending him to Triple-A Louisville.
He hit .298 with 12 homers, 36 RBIs and 11 stolen bases there earlier than an harm to Nick Senzel opened a spot in Cincinnati.
“I’ve had a lot of Dominican guys reach out to me, congratulate me, tell me to keep going – ‘This is just the start,’” mentioned De La Cruz, whose massive household of 5 brothers and three sisters has been following his journey within the Dominican Republic.
The Diamondbacks’ Ketel Marte and the Pirates’ Oneil Cruz are amongst people who have reached out to him.
“They both congratulated me and told me to keep going,” De La Cruz mentioned.
Unlike so many Reds prospects through the years, who had weighty expectations positioned fully on their shoulders, De La Cruz doesn’t must go it alone. Matt McLain is within the high 5 in All-Star voting, fellow infielder Spencer Steer will get common taking part in time and one other rookie, Andrew Abbott, has barged his means into the beginning rotation.
They type a younger core that’s enjoyable to observe. It’s versatile, dynamic and portends large issues for the long run.
Kind of like De La Cruz, who’s on the middle of all of it.
“What can I say? I’m just here trying to give my team a chance to win,” he mentioned, “and put in my best effort out there.”
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