The Cincinnati Reds called up their top prospect Elly De La Cruz on Tuesday and inserted him into the starting lineup against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Great American Ball Park.
The 6’5″, 200 pounds, De La Cruz played third base and hit cleanup. He ripped a 112-MPH double for his first major league hit, good enough for the hardest hit ball by a Reds player all season.
On Wednesday night against Dodgers starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard, De La Cruz smacked a 458-foot drive for his first major league homer.
“The first thing I thought was, that ball’s gone,” De La Cruz said through a translator. “I didn’t know where it landed. I was looking at my teammates. They told me it almost left the building.”
De La Cruz played shortstop and finished the game 2-for-4. Besides, the home run, he tripled on a drive that went to the wall in right-center.
De La Cruz signed for $65,000 with the Reds in July 2018 as a 16-year-old out of the Dominican Republic. He had to wait for the COVID-19 pandemic to pass before he could come over to the United States.
Last season, De La Cruz went from High-A Dayton to Double-A Chattanooga, where he hit a combined .304 with 28 homers and 86 RBI over 121 games.
This year in Triple-A, and De La Cruz hit .298 with 12 homers and 36 RBI in 38 games.
The future is looks bright for De La Cruz.
Elly De La Cruz of the Cincinnati Reds. Photo courtsey of Dylan Buell/Getty Images
