Cincinnati Reds prospect Elly De La Cruz knew the day was coming — and soon. But that probably didn’t take anything away from the surprise delivery of the news.
The Reds officially called up De La Cruz on Tuesday, bringing baseball’s No. 4 prospect to a team that hopes to make a run at the NL Central this season. De La Cruz is a 6-foot-5 shortstop with serious power and has the potential to challenge the Diamondbacks’ Corbin Carroll for National League Rookie of the Year.
But one thing is for certain: De La Cruz will always remember learning that his MLB dream was about to come true.
“Your bags are here. You gotta go to Cincinnati.” pic.twitter.com/xLY872QY98
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) June 6, 2023
The Reds shared video of De La Cruz finding out about his call-up, which of course included a bit of misdirection from Louisville Bats manager Pat Kelly in a hotel lobby. He called over De La Cruz to ask him if he had all his belongings and asked him about some bags off in the corner. When it was confirmed that those were De La Cruz’s bags, Kelly told him that they had to go to Cincinnati.
De La Cruz immediately knew what that meant (after thinking he was in trouble at first) as he’ll be joining the Reds for their home series against the Dodgers.
Fans also enjoyed seeing this video of De La Cruz’s call-up. Those videos seriously never get old.