Tag: Elly De La Cruz

Bengals’ Tee Higgins asks for signed Elly De La Cruz jersey

No. 5 wants a jersey from Reds rookie Elly De La Cruz.

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The Cincinnati Reds are red hot right now, which even has Cincinnati Bengals players paying attention.

A Bengals player just threw out the first pitch at a Reds game and it wasn’t too long before that fans saw Joe Burrow himself hitting home runs at Great American Ballpark during batting practice.

Most recently now? Bengals wideout Tee Higgins going to Twitter to ask for a signed Elly De La Cruz jersey.

And why not? As Reds fans surely know, the 21-year-old rookie De La Cruz just hit for the cycle during his team’s 12th straight win on Friday night, becoming the youngest player to hit for the cycle since 1972 and the first for the Reds since 1989.

Here’s the fun comment from Higgins:

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MLB rookie Elly De La Cruz swapped signed gear with Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes

#Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes and #Reds rookie Elly De La Cruz exchanged autographed gear at last week’s #Royals theme game. | from @EdEastonJr

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The Kansas City Chiefs are enjoying their last few weeks before the start of training camp next month. As the team prepares for the 2023 season and defense of their Super Bowl title, some off-season activities are on the agenda.

The rumors have been swirling since June 12 at the special Kansas City Royals ‘Chiefs Night’ that Patrick Mahomes was impressed by talented  Cincinnati Reds rookie Elly De La Cruz. Mahomes, a well-documented baseball fan and former high school standout, understood the hype surrounding the recent call-up.

The reveal happened during last Wednesday’s Bally Sports Ohio broadcast by reporter Jim Day.

“Patrick Mahomes was here for Game 1. Now he requested an autographed bat and ball from Elly De La Cruz and (he) obliged.  And from some prodding from a few teammates, (De La Cruz) actually signed the inscription, ‘Fastest man in the world,’ with his signature,” said Day. “So Mahomes got both of those items.”

Apparently, Mahomes also exchanged a signed No. 15 jersey with De La Cruz, but the young player from the Dominican Republic didn’t quite grasp the significance. He apparently doesn’t watch football and said he had only ever watched the Chiefs and Mahomes in the Super Bowl LVII.

The Reds’ rookie has already made quite the splash since being added to the club’s major league level. He is expected to be a star for years, so perhaps paths will cross with Mahomes again in the future.

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Reds rookie Elly De La Cruz had the Rockies in disbelief after he easily beat out a routine grounder to third

His speed is almost unfair.

The Cincinnati Reds are riding a nine-game winning streak that propelled them into first place in the National League Central. The arrival of rookie sensation Elly De La Cruz has been a major factor behind that recent surge.

He simply changes the game with his speed.

We saw over the weekend as De La Cruz beat out a hard grounder to first base, but that came off a diving stop by Jose Abreu, which slowed the Astros first baseman down. On Monday against the Rockies, De La Cruz showed that he has the speed to beat out routine grounders that are fielded cleanly.

Batting in the sixth inning with a runner on and trailing by a run, De La Cruz hit a grounder to third that was fielded on a high bounce by third baseman Mike Moustakas. It should have been a play where Moustakas — despite having one of the weaker infield arms in baseball — was able to step into a hard throw to first. But De La Cruz’s speed forced the Rockies third baseman to rush the throw, and the result was a bouncing toss that De La Cruz easily beat out.

Rockies first baseman Nolan Jones was visibly stunned. He turned to the umpire as to ask, “How?” Well, De La Cruz’s speed is how.

It was a huge play too because De La Cruz ended up being the go-ahead run in that inning. His speed literally turned a routine out into an eventual run.

This won’t be the last time De La Cruz’s speed drastically impacts a game, and fans can’t get enough of watching him run.

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Reds rookie Elly De La Cruz wowed MLB fans after he hit a single on hard grounder to first base

That shouldn’t have been possible.

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.

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.

MORE: Every MLB stadium in 2023, ranked

Elly De La Cruz’s first career MLB home run nearly cleared the stadium and MLB fans were in awe

Just a casual 458 foot blast for your first career MLB home run!

This certainly won’t be the last time MLB fans hear the name Elly De La Cruz after an absolute moonshot.

Wednesday was De La Cruz’s second-career MLB game after earning a well-deserved call up from the Cincinnati Reds earlier in the week. The No. 4 prospect in baseball had a lot of hype coming into his MLB debut and folks, he certainly delivered.

MORE MLB: Elly De La Cruz’s midseason arrival doesn’t mean he’s out of the Rookie of the Year race.

In the bottom of the first against the Los Angeles Dodgers, De La Cruz absolutely crushed a two-run home run that nearly cleared the fence in deep right field at Great American Ball Park. The official distance on this ball? A casual 458 feet, but it could have been a whole lot more that’s for sure.

Goodness, what a shot. Not only was De La Cruz’s home run an absolute monster, the rookie put up some astonishing numbers on it too.

As for betting fans, you’ll be happy to note that De La Cruz was +385 to hit a home run tonight overall, which is quite the payout!

In only his second MLB game, De La Cruz gave Reds fans — and the MLB world as a whole — something truly awesome to cheer for. Here’s hoping there are many more moonshots to come from De La Cruz in his MLB career!

The Reds shared awesome video of top prospect Elly De La Cruz finding out about his MLB call-up

These videos never get old.

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.

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.