Welcome to the show! Baseball’s ‘best prospect’ Elly De La Cruz, 21, is called up by the Cincinnati Reds for the upcoming LA Dodgers series after burning down the Triple-A pitch
- ESPN listed De La Cruz as the most exciting player to come off the Triple A ball
- The 21-year-old has the hardest hit ball in any professional league (118.8 mph) this year
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
The Cincinnati Reds are promoting promising infielder Elly De La Cruz, recently named one of MLB’s top prospects, to make his major league debut against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Reds announced on Tuesday that they are calling the 21-year-old from their Triple-A team, the Louisville Bats, to give one of the minor league’s most attractive talents his first major league test.
In footage posted by the Reds to Twitter, De La Cruz can be seen talking to Bats manager Pat Kelly in a hotel lobby, where he is told his bags are ready to make the trip from return to Cincinnati, while being surrounded by teammates.
He is expected to take the place of infielder/outfielder Nick Senzel. Senzel was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right knee injury and was ruled out on Monday.
Previously, rapper Jack Harlow, who is from Louisville, shared an Instagram Story of one of De La Cruz’ home runs in a Triple-A game for the Bats, cheering on the six-foot-five slugger.
Elly De La Cruz, who hits .298 with 12 Triple A home runs, was recalled by the Reds
Baseball America ranks De La Cruz as the sport’s third-best prospect, while ESPN names him No. 1, according to May’s updated rankings, citing a tantalizing power-speed combination.
He’s hitting .298 with 12 home runs, 11 stolen bases and a 1.031 OPS with Triple-A Louisville this season.
Coming out of the Dominican Republic as a teenager, De La Cruz hit 28 homers and stole 47 bases in Class A and Double-A last year.
Plus, he’s connected for the hardest-hit ball in all of professional baseball leagues this year, with a Statcast-recorded outing speed of 118.8 mph. De La Cruz also hit two other balls over 116 mph in that same game. No major league team has ever had three in a game.
Most recently, on June 4, De La Cruz landed a one-two finish at 117.3 mph.
In the spring, the Reds awarded No. 44 to De La Cruz, previously worn by the great Eric Davis
De La Cruz will continue to wear number 44 in the majors – the former number of Reds great Eric Davis
The only other hitters to break 116 multiple times this season are: Giancarlo Stanton (4), Jake Burger, Jo Adell and Ronald Acuña Jr. (2).
In early May, De La Cruz threw a 99.2 mph pitch to first base from third – the hardest pitch on record at the time in Triple-A or the major leagues.
During spring training, the Reds assigned the number 44 to De La Cruz, who had previously been carried by ball club great and prospect mentor Eric Davis.
The Reds have surprisingly remained on the periphery of the NL wild-card race this season thanks to significant contributions from young players.
Rookie Matt McLain hit .329 as a substitute at shortstop, and 23-year-old Hunter Greene also topped at times. Andrew Abbott pitched six scoreless innings in his major league debut Monday against Milwaukee.
