Javi Baez’s videos sliding and dodging defenders like a magician have gone viral. The Puerto Rican is an artist in this type of play, but he cannot always evade those who try to catch him, especially when they are players with a huge amount of power in their arms
Such is the case of Dominican torpedo Elly De La Cruz, who never tires of stunning Major League fans with his spectacular throws to take out opponents on the bases
In the Statcast era (since 2015), the lanky Cincinnati Reds player has four of the five strongest assists made by an infielder, an indisputable proof of the power of his arm
This Saturday, Elly impressed again with a huge relay throw to put Javy Baez out at the plate in the game between Cincinnati and Detroit
The Puerto Rican, positioned as the Tigers’ third baseman and eighth batter, was on first base when Trey Sweeney hit a long drive to right field that went deep
It looked like all the conditions were there for Baez to score, but outfielder Jake Fraley made a relay throw to Elly De La Cruz, who fired home to get the runner and keep the game tied
The Dominican’s shot was 98.3 mph, straight to the glove of catcher Jose Trivino, who did not fall into Baez’s traps and caught it
Undisputed king
This is the strongest assist made by an infielder this season and the fourth fastest of the Statcast era. Interestingly, of the five most powerful assists by infielders in this period, four are held by the Dominican:
1. Elly De La Cruz: 99.8 mph (July 20, 2023)
2. Elly De La Cruz: 99.7 mph (August 27, 2023)
3. Gabriel Arias: 98.5 mph (May 28, 2024)
4. Elly De La Cruz: 98.3 mph (June 14, 2025)
5. Elly De La Cruz: 97.9 mph (July 16, 2023)
The only one who has managed to sneak onto the Dominican’s podium is Gabriel Arias, a shortstop for the Guardians who this year leads all infielders in average velocity of his throws to the bases. The Venezuelan has an average of 91.1 miles per hour, a figure that puts him slightly ahead of Elly De la Cruz (90.9) and Zach McKinstry (90.7)
The record for the fastest assist by an infielder in 2025 was held by Daniel Schneemann (96.3 mph), but Elly has shattered it on Saturday in Detroit, where he also shone with the bat
The Dominican was the one in charge of opening the scoreboard at Comerica Park with a long 402-foot drive that went out at 110.1 mph. De La Cruz is the fourth player with the most home runs of 110+ mph exit velocity in Major League Baseball in 2025, behind only Shohei Ohtani, James Wood and Aaron Judge.
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