Reds Corridor of Famer provides Elly De La Cruz his flowers

Cincinnati Reds phenom Elly De La Cruz continues to amaze followers, opponents, and even a few of the most skilled baseball minds. The most recent to heap reward on the 23-year-old celebrity? None aside from Reds legend and Corridor of Famer Barry Larkin.

Larkin, who spent his total 19-year MLB profession with the Reds and was inducted into the Corridor of Fame in 2012, lately marveled at De La Cruz’s instincts and baseball intelligence.

“His baseball IQ is off absolutely the charts! It is wonderful how he sees and anticipates the sport… he sees issues earlier than they occur,” Larkin mentioned by way of MLB Community on X, previously Twitter.

That stage of anticipation was on full show throughout a latest spring coaching sport in opposition to the Colorado Rockies when De La Cruz pulled off a jaw-dropping baserunning sequence that even left Reds supervisor Terry Francona in disbelief.

Elly De La Cruz left Reds supervisor Terry Francona in shock

Within the fourth inning of Tuesday’s matchup, De La Cruz reached first base on an infield single, utilizing his elite pace to beat out the throw. A couple of pitches later, after a pitch hit Austin Hays, the Reds had runners on first and second with no outs. That’s when De La Cruz made magic occur.

As Rockies catcher Drew Romo tried to throw out Hays at second base on a double steal, De La Cruz swiped third with out hesitation. However as a substitute of stopping there, he stored operating—scoring from second base with out the ball ever leaving the infield. Francona, who has seen nearly every little thing in his 4 a long time in baseball, couldn’t imagine what he had witnessed.

“They are saying that you could be see one thing if you come to a sport that you have by no means seen earlier than. I’ve by no means seen that,” Francona mentioned, per The Enquirer (Cincinnati). “When he left third, I am like, ‘No, no, no, no. Good play.’ I imply, that is as athletic and instinctual as you are ever gonna see. My goodness sakes. That was unimaginable.”

Initially, the play was scored as one stolen base with De La Cruz advancing house on the throw. Nevertheless, after overview, the official scorer modified it to credit score De La Cruz with two stolen bases on the identical play—a testomony to his aggressive baserunning and consciousness. Whereas De La Cruz’s elite pace is what catches the attention, Francona believes his instincts are simply as spectacular.

“Everyone sees the bodily stuff, but when he doesn’t maintain his head up and know the place the ball is, that doesn’t occur,” Francona added.

De La Cruz led the Majors in stolen bases in 2024 with 67, however his accomplishments lengthen far past simply swiping luggage. He turned the primary shortstop in MLB historical past to document 25 or extra house runs and 65 or extra stolen bases in a single season. Moreover, he turned the quickest participant in MLB historical past to succeed in 100 stolen bases and 100 extra-base hits, undertaking the feat in simply 251 video games—two fewer than the earlier record-holder, Juan Samuel.

The Reds’ younger star additionally joined elite firm as simply the third participant within the trendy period (since 1900) to tally not less than 100 stolen bases inside his first two MLB seasons, becoming a member of Vince Coleman (217 SB, 1985-86) and the legendary Rickey Henderson (133 SB, 1979-80).

Along with his uncommon mixture of pace, energy, and intelligence, De La Cruz is redefining what it means to be a five-tool participant. As Larkin, Francona, and the remainder of the baseball world proceed to take discover, one factor is definite—that is solely the start for Cincinnati’s electrifying younger star.