Cincinnati Reds rookie Elly De La Cruz claimed last week that he’s the fastest person in the world. It was a bold statement given how ridiculously fast world-class sprinters are.
But when it comes to Major League Baseball, De La Cruz’s speed is in a class of its own. He showed that once again on Sunday.
During the Reds’ game against the Astros, it initially seemed like Jose Abreu robbed De La Cruz of a hit with a diving effort on a hard grounder. But De La Cruz simply is not losing an footrace to the bag. Abreu got to his feet and tried to complete the out before De La Cruz’s head-first slide reached the bag.
Despite Abreu having less distance to run, De La Cruz was just too fast.
Did you know Elly De La Cruz is pretty fast?@ellylacocoa18 pic.twitter.com/YTyNQ1VZlq
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) June 18, 2023
It was one of the few occasions where a head-first slide into first base was smart as De La Cruz was able to avoid a collision and safely reach the bag. Yet, that speed was still unreal. You don’t see many players turn a grounder to first into a hit — 31.2 feet per second will do that, though.
No wonder fans were impressed with the electrifying effort from the rookie.