Baseball World, meet Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz, the lone representative for the oldest franchise in major league baseball the Cincinnati Reds.

22 year old Reds phenom Elly De La Cruz has been named to the NL All-Star roster as a reserve player. This is De La Cruz’s first appearance in the mid summer classic and I’d say he earned it. While his batting average may not be where he, or anyone else really wants it to be at, he is currently batting .250 with 15 home runs, 39 RBI’s and is leading MLB with 43 stolen bases. He currently has an OBP at .343 and is slugging .470 and has an OPS+ at 126. The All-Star game is about show casing talent and Elly De La Cruz is that talent! This is just the beginning for Elly De La Cruz as I believe he will have many more All-Star appearances in the future.

His complete name is Elly Antonio De La Cruz he was born on January 11th 2002 but all of his 8 siblings were born before him. Elly grew up in Sabana Grande de Boya in the Dominican Republic. On July 2, 2018, De La Cruz signed with the Cincinnati Reds as an international free agent. He received a $65,000 signing bonus, then made his professional debut in 2019 with the Dominican Summer League Reds at 17 years of age, with a slash line of .285/.351/.382.

Minor League accomplishments

In 2021 Baseball America named him the best player in the Arizona Complex League the fourth-best player in the Low-A Southeast League, and the best athlete and fastest baserunner in the Reds’ organization. He was the first minor league player since George Springer in 2013 to bat .300 with at least 25 home runs and 40 stolen bases. He was named a MiLB Organization All-Star, a Midwest League Post-Season All-Star, and the Midwest League Prospect of the Year. He was also named the Reds’ Minor League Player of the Year, Baseball America‘s Reds Minor League Player of the Year, and Minor League Baseball’s Top Prospect in the Midwest League.

“He’s the best runner I’ve ever seen, and he has the most power I’ve ever seen. And he has the strongest arm I’ve ever seen.” Joey Votto

Major League accomplishments

On June 6, 2023, De La Cruz was promoted to the major leagues for the first time following an injury to Nick Senzel, (who we did an article on yesterday, that you can read here) De La Cruz was the fifth-youngest NL ballplayer at 21 years of age, one of the tallest shortstops in MLB history at 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m), and one of the fastest ballplayers in baseball.

So, just to make sure you, the reader understands, all the accomplishments that are about to be listed occurred in slightly over 1 major league season. In a game against the Atlanta Braves on June 23, he hit for the cycle; becoming the youngest player to do so since Cesar Cedeno in 1972. On July 8, De La Cruz became the first Reds player since Greasy Neale in 1919 to steal second, third, and home in the same inning. On July 16, he broke the Statcast record for fastest infield assist with a throw reaching 97.9 miles per hour (157.6 km/h). Elly is tied for the fastest player in the league (30.4 feet per second (556 m/min) sprint speed), and the strongest arm of any infielder (average 95.6 miles per hour (153.9 km/h)) in the league. Playing against the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 16, 2024, De La Cruz became the first MLB player since Ichiro Suzuki in 2012 to record four hits and four stolen bases in a single game.

It would be difficult for one player to accomplish all the above feats in their career, let alone a few weeks time greater than one season. Saying he has earned this All-Star honor is an understatement.

Photo Credit; Marca.com, http://www.richy.com.vn, Wallpaper Cave

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