Reds’ Elly De La Cruz steals 2nd, 3rd and home in same inning

Elly De La Cruz became the first Reds player since 1919 to steal second, third and home in the same inning, the latest electrifying feat from the franchise-changing rookie.

De La Cruz broke a 5-5 tie with the Milwaukee Brewers in the seventh inning with a two-out RBI single off Elvis Peguero, then got to work making the reliever’s life miserable. He stole second. Then, on a 1-2 pitch from Peguero (1-2), he swiped third without a throw.

The rattled reliever caught the ball from his catcher in front of the mound and turned his back as he walked slowly toward the rubber. Pausing only to put his helmet back on, De La Cruz walked down the third-base line, broke into a sprint and easily beat Peguero’s rushed throw to the plate.

“I kept checking on him, checking on him to see if he was going to go back or if he was checking on me or anything like that,” De La Cruz said through a translator. “When I saw him walk back to the mound, he was at kind of at a slow pace. He didn’t look back over there at third, so I decided there to go.”

ELLY DE LA CRUZ STOLE EVERY BASE@ellylacocoa18 pic.twitter.com/FrDKGn3pwl

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) July 8, 2023

Inside Reds star Elly De La Cruz’s hot start

Elly De La Cruz, Pedro’s twin, suffered no such fate. Once the runt of the pair, he sprouted first to a slim 6 feet, projectible enough to entice the Cincinnati Reds to sign him as a 16-year-old in 2018. Over the next three years, he grew five more inches. Now, at 6-foot-5 and 200 pounds, he is baseball’s newest sensation: a tooled-up, switch-hitting phenomenon, the sort of player whose magnetic presence is made even more inconceivable by the fact that his fraternal twin isn’t even average height for men globally.

When asked how tall he is in a recent phone conversation with ESPN, both speaking through an interpreter, Pedro started to answer before Elly chimed in, brotherly as ever, and said: “Don’t lie.” Pedro chuckled and said: “Well, I haven’t really measured myself in a while, but it’s around 5-8.”

The miracle of Elly De La Cruz is not just the unmatched combination of power, speed and arm strength that has supercharged Cincinnati’s surge toward the top of the National League Central division with a 13-5 record since his June 6 arrival in the major leagues. It’s that even in his family, with two average-sized parents and eight siblings just the same, he hit the genetic lottery, growing 9 inches taller than someone with whom he shared the womb—a fact that confounds those who don’t know them to the point of requiring proof.

“They still don’t believe it. They say it’s not true,” Pedro said. “So we just have to show people the birth certificate for them to believe.”

By now, you know Elly De La Cruz, the transcendent 6-foot-5 shortstop who has helped make the Cincinnati Reds contenders.

You probably don't know the other person in this picture: his 5-foot-8 twin brother, Pedro.

Their story, free and unlocked, at ESPN:https://t.co/BSMSfDvDck pic.twitter.com/QRLcq1cR92

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 28, 2023

Elly De La Cruz’s cycle propels Reds to 12th straight win

Cincinnati rookie Elly De La Cruz became the youngest Major League Baseball player to hit for the cycle in 51 years as the Reds extended their win streak to 12 games with an 11-10 victory over the visiting Atlanta Braves on Friday night.

De La Cruz, 21, doubled to open the second inning, had a two-run homer in the third, a run-scoring single to center in the fifth and tripled in the sixth for his fourth RBI of the night. The last hit increased the Reds’ lead to 11-7.

He became the youngest player to hit for the cycle since Houston’s César Cedeño in 1972, according to ESPN Stats & Information. De La Cruz is also the third player since 1901 to hit for the cycle within his first 15 career games.

The cycle is the franchise’s seventh overall—fifth since 1900—and first since Eric Davis did it in 1989.

THE MOST EXCITING 10.83 SECONDS IN SPORTS ⚡⚡⚡@ellylacocoa18 pic.twitter.com/3lJjyhWRkc

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) June 24, 2023

Reds call up top prospect Elly De La Cruz, put Nick Senzel on IL

Shortstop Elly De La Cruz, recently ranked as the No. 1 MLB prospect by ESPN, has been called up by the Cincinnati Reds, it was announced Tuesday.

The 6-foot-5 De La Cruz was promoted from Triple-A Louisville and will join the Reds on Tuesday for the team’s series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He takes the roster spot of third baseman Nick Senzel, who was placed on the injured list with a right knee injury.

De La Cruz, with a tantalizing power-speed combination, was named baseball’s top prospect by ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel in his updated rankings last month.

The 21-year-old is hitting .296 with 12 home runs, 11 stolen bases, 36 RBIs and an OPS of 1.031 in 158 at-bats this season. He started the season on the injured list after suffering a left hamstring strain during spring training.