BRONX, NY — Elly De La Mania!
Cincinnati’s 22-year-old superstar, Elly De La Cruz, made his Yankee Stadium debut on Tuesday evening — a night he had been waiting for and dreamt of ever since he was a kid, growing up in Sabana Grande de Boya, Dominican Republic. Yet, at the same time, a debut that he just knew he’d rise to the occasion in.
Yankee Stadium debut tonight for #Reds 22-year-old superstar Elly De La Cruz, the 2023 National League #LatinoMVP Rookie of the Year 🇩🇴🏆⚾️#LatinoSports #MLB #LasMayores pic.twitter.com/ZXLZECtZnX
— Latino Sports (@LatinoSports) July 2, 2024
“It’s going to be good because I grew up being a Yankees fan, and I can’t wait to play here,” De La Cruz said in a MLB Network interview on Tuesday afternoon, which included him later revealing that he idolized Derek Jeter.
After De La Cruz took part in batting practice to soak in all of what Yankee Stadium has to offer, while hitting ‘moonshots’ to the second deck of right field, it was his time to shine on the diamond.
An up close look of the 2023 NL #LatinoMVP Rookie of the Year Elly De La Cruz 🇩🇴 in batting practice here at Yankee Stadium ⚾️🗽#LatinoSports #Reds #MLB pic.twitter.com/1btrTXoZa6
— Latino Sports (@LatinoSports) July 2, 2024
The switch-hitting shortstop simply did it all: tremendous defense (per usual), paired with dynamic speed around the bases, and production at-the-plate that only a handful of MLB athletes can achieve…
From the left-side of the plate, De La Cruz led off the top of the fourth inning with a shot to the right-field corner off of Luis Gil, which resulted in a triple, and then to follow it up, in the next inning, as a right-handed hitter, he clobbered a Caleb Ferguson 93 MPH four-seam fastball to deep left-center field for his 15th home run of the season.
Right-handed 114.1 MPH off the bat… @ellylacocoa18 pic.twitter.com/dt5Y5HSFoQ
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) July 3, 2024
“It was amazing, there was a lot of fans, and they were loud,” said De La Cruz of the stadium atmosphere following the Reds 5-4 win. “It was loud. I love playing here.”
“First time here you know, I think there’s a lot to be said — he’s just comfortable in those spots — he believes in himself and has confidence in playing the game,” stated Cincinnati manager David Bell on De La Cruz, who became the first Reds player in franchise history to record at least 15 home runs and 40-or-more stolen bases in the club’s first 85 games of a season.
“And he’s just at the beginning” Bell added. “There’s going to be a lot bigger spots, and bigger stages. But, the fact that he’s having success — not just in these spots — but throughout the season, he’s played really well. It’s just the growth. The confidence grows and he continues to become a better player everyday.”
Reds right fielder Will Benson noted: “It’s Elly being Elly. Sometimes he just casually runs and gets a triple with, like, no effort and then hits a 114 (MPH) homer. It’s awesome. No one else is doing that, but Elly is.”
In New York Elly rock (rock) @ellylacocoa18 pic.twitter.com/mqPbvcfJkf
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) July 3, 2024
For Yankee fans, this was their first up close look at De La Cruz, and let’s just say, the 2023 National League LatinoMVP Rookie of the Year did not disappoint…
Robert Rizzo is a journalist and editor of Latino Sports – Email: RobertRiz994@gmail.com
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