LOS ANGELES, CA — “The Red Coats are coming, the Red Coats are coming!” Better yet, Elly De La Cruz, Sabana Grande de Boya, Dominican Republic, is coming. The 22-year-old Reds shortstop and 2023 National League LatinoMVP Rookie of the Year, is the most exciting young player in baseball, and he will be in L.A. for a four-game series against the NL Western Division-leading Dodgers this weekend.
As a switch-hitter, he is batting .260 with nine home runs, leads all of MLB in stolen bases with twenty-six, and has only been caught stealing four times this season.
Reds Elly De Le Cruz took the league by storm in his first season in the Big Leagues and was named the 2023 NL LatinoMVP Rookie of the Year by the LSWBA for his on and off field efforts – Image Credit: Emma Sharon/Latino Sports
In his 98 games last year, he stole 35 bases and was caught only eight times! The closest to him this season is Jose Caballero, Panama City, Panama, who has seventeen. See for more details on Panamanian-born MLB players in 2024 here.
De La Cruz is also one of the best and most exciting players at the shortstop position. At 6′ 5″ and 200 pounds, he has excellent lateral range and a plus arm.
Elly De La Cruz just threw this ball 99.7 MPH… @ellylacocoa18 pic.twitter.com/jHUJc46jM1
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) August 27, 2023
StatCast has clocked De La Cruz at 106.9 miles per hour. It was the fastest throw ever recorded in Major League Baseball history. Last Fall, he was also clocked at 105.7 miles per hour on a throw to home plate. That is some serious velocity, my friends.
And talk about velocity; his first home run in the big leagues off of Noah Syndergaard traveled 458 feet, leaving his bat at 114.8 MPH that just missed leaving Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.
Elly De La Cruz casually goes 458 feet for his first MLB career home run… pic.twitter.com/diImkK58YP
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) June 7, 2023
I first met Elly in 2022 at the All-Star Game in Dodger Stadium, when he was selected to play in the Futures Game that year. He had signed with the Cincinnati Reds as an international free agent at sixteen-years-old and received a $65,000 signing bonus (Article Available Here). I told him that I knew he’d signed for that amount and that very soon he would be making a lot of money. He broke into a big smile and said to me, “I know!”
Elly De La Cruz, the next face of Major League Baseball? – Image Credit: Emma Sharon/Latino Sports
The fans at Dodger Stadium this weekend, will be focused on Shohei Ohtani and his powerful bat. But dollars to donuts, they will have all eyes on De La Cruz when he comes to the plate, is on base, and is on the field at shortstop.
Ohtani just bats. De La Cruz bats with power, is an elite baserunner, and is the most exciting shortstop in baseball.
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