Inside the Article:
If you have not yet heard of Elly De La Cruz of the Cincinnati Reds, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!?!? De La Cruz was called up to the Reds just over a month ago, and he has already established himself as the most exciting player in Major League Baseball. On Sunday, De La Cruz broke the Statcast Era record for the hardest recorded infield assist.
Elly De La Cruz breaks Statcast record
Take a look as De La Cruz takes a ground ball and proceeds to throw a 97.9 mph seed to first base to get the runner out.
Does a De La Cruz throw feel different?
When asked if a throw from De La Cruz feels different than one from the other infielders, Red 1B Spencer Steer had the following to say:
“I don’t really notice it too much,” Steer said. “I’m just focused on getting to the bag and catching the ball. His balls got some really good carry on it. Some guys, that throw might die on them a little bit.”
Fastest recorded infield assists
Here are the fastet-recorded infield assists of the Statcast era:
Sunday, Elly De La Cruz: 97.9 mph
July 14, 2022, Oneil Cruz: 97.8 mph
Sept. 20, 2020, Fernando Tatis Jr.: 97.3 mph
Sept. 18, 2021, Fernando Tatis Jr.: 96.8 mph
June 20, 2022, Oneil Cruz: 96.7 mph
How good is De La Cruz?
It is obviously way too early to start referring to De La Cruz as a Hall of Fame caliber player (even typing that is absurd), but he sure is off to a solid start for a 21-year-old rookie. Here are his stats through his first 33 games at the MLB level.
- 33 games
- .297 batting average
- .812 OPS
- 4 home runs
- 18 RBIs
- 9 doubles
- 2 triples
- 0.7 WAR
- 113 OPS+
De La Cruz Highlights
In case you are not yet familiar with the work of Elly De La Cruz, here are his highlights through the All-Star break. Enjoy!
