Cincinnati Reds third baseman Elly De La Cruz has been in the big leagues for less than three weeks, but he’s already making an impact on the baseball world.
The Reds called up De La Cruz, the third prospect in the majors, on June 6, and in his first game, he got his first hit that came off the bat at 112 mph. One night later, he hit a 458-foot homer, the first of his big league career.
Two and a half weeks later, he hit for the cycle – and he did it in just six innings of work.
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Cincinnati Reds third baseman Elly De La Cruz celebrates after hitting a two-run home run in the third inning of the game against the Atlanta Braves at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on Friday. (Albert Cesare / The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK)
In his first at-bat against the Atlanta Braves on Friday night, De La Cruz hit a double. In the next inning, he launched a two-run home run to cut the Reds’ deficit to 5-4.
In the fifth inning, he got the easy one out of the way, pushing in one that also drove in a run.
The chance that De La Cruz would go up again was very high, but he didn’t want to waste time.
Jake Fraley, left, and Elly De La Cruz of the Cincinnati Reds celebrate after Fraley hit a home run in the second inning against the Atlanta Braves at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on Friday. (Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
Needing the hardest of the four for the walk, he sent a changeup into the right field gap. Not only did he record his fourth RBI of the night, but he wasn’t slowing down for anything.
Center fielder Michael Harris II played it off the wall, but De La Cruz slid into third safely.
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It was Red’s first cycle since Eric Davis achieved it in 1989, and De La Cruz is the youngest player (21 years, 163 days) to hit the cycle since César Cedeño in 1972.
In spring training, the Reds were an afterthought. Now, they lead the National League Central and tied a franchise record with 12th straight win on Friday.
Once the cycle was complete, De La Cruz bumped his batting average to .367 and his OPS to 1.091.
Elly De La Cruz of the Cincinnati Reds hits a double in the second inning against the Atlanta Braves at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on Friday. (Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
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It was the third circle in the MLB this year – Luis Arraez of the Florida Marlin (who is hitting .402) and Cedric Mullins of the Balitmore Orioles also did it earlier in the season.
