Cincinnati Reds infielder Elly De La Cruz is one of the most tantalizing talents in MLB, and the 23-year-old showed why on Saturday.
Playing against the Cleveland Guardians in a spring-training game, De La Cruz hit a home run from both sides of the plate. First, he went yard from the left side in the opening inning, getting under a curveball and sending it over the right-field fence.
Then, in his next at-bat, De La Cruz sent a heater over the opposite-field wall from the right side.
The two long balls combined for 859 feet.
De La Cruz has been electric in the roughly year-and-a-half he has been in the show. The 6-foot-5 shortstop has a cannon for an arm, blazing speed and overwhelming power.
Last season, De La Cruz totaled 25 home runs, 76 RBIs, a 5.2 WAR and an MLB-high 67 stolen bases, while posting a .259/.339/.471 slash line and earning an All-Star nod. Furthermore, he was in the 90th percentile in bat speed, 88th in average exit velocity and 86th in barrel percentage, per Statcast.
At the same time, De La Cruz has been a bit erratic, recording an MLB-high 218 strikeouts and also a league-high 29 errors at shortstop last season.
“I always put in hard work in the offseason,” De La Cruz said after the game Saturday, according to MLB.com. “That will come out in the [regular] season.”
New Reds manager Terry Francona recently said that he wants De La Cruz to be “the best player in baseball on the best team in baseball.”
The Reds are coming off a 77-85 campaign in which they missed the playoffs for a fourth consecutive season.
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