Cincinnati Reds rookie Eli DeLaCruz, 21, has made an immediate impact in his big league debut.
De La Cruz started at shortstop in the No. 4 spot against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, on 8 August and went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run, two RBIs and two runs scored. Cincinnati earned an 8-6 walk-off win behind De La Cruz’s performance.
A native of the Dominican Republic who signed with Cincinnati in July 2018, Deracruz is a highly touted prospect, ranked as the No. 4 prospect in the majors and No. 1 in Cincinnati by MLB.com. He made his big league debut against the Dodgers on July 7, going 1-for-3 with a run scored, a walk and two stolen bases, and hit his first career home run in the second game.
De La Cruz, batting first with two outs in the first inning and the Dodgers up 2-0, took a 91.9-mile-per-hour (147.9 km/h) fastball from Dodgers starter Noah Syndergaard for a two-run homer. It was a massive home run that hit 114.8 miles per hour (184.8 km/h) and travelled 458 feet.안전놀이터
MLB.com called it “the Eli DeLaCruz Effect. De La Cruz’s second game was better than his first, with the same result. A come-from-behind win two nights in a row,” highlighting De La Cruz’s performance.
“I think the whole team has a good atmosphere. It’s a really positive atmosphere. It feels like we’re going to the World Series,” he said of the game.
According to MLB.com, “De La Cruz hit a home run with a bat speed of 114.8 mph. It’s the second-fastest debut home run since the inception of statcast (2015). He also hit a triple in his second at-bat, which took him just 10.83 seconds to get from home to third base. That’s the fastest time in the major leagues this year,” he said, explaining De La Cruz’s talent.
“I’m always thinking about triples,” De La Cruz said. I always try to get to third base when I get the chance,” he said.
Cincinnati manager David Bell said, “We just want to see Eli play the game. We don’t expect anything from him. He’s a player that you can’t put a label on. We want to see him be ‘Eli Deracruz,’ and that’s all he has to do. He’s a tremendous prospect. He loves baseball. We’re going to let him play his baseball,” he said of Deracruz.