Elly De La Cruz has already proclaimed himself as “the fastest man in the world,” and his performance on Saturday afternoon only makes that statement look even more true.
In a span of two pitches in the top of the seventh inning against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Cincinnati Reds rookie stole second, third and home at American Family Field in the team’s 8-5 win.
According to the FS1 broadcast, the last time a Reds player stole three bases in one inning was in 1919, accomplished by Greasy Neale.
He started the frame by breaking a 5-5 tie with a run-scoring single into left field.
But the fun only started there as the 21-year-old emerging star used his jets to take a quick trip around the bases.
With a 1-0 count and Jake Fraley at the dish, De La Cruz took off for second and beat catcher William Contreras’ throw with a head-first slide.
As the count reached 1-2, the native of the Dominican Republic went for third base and made it without a throw as third baseman Brian Anderson did not cover the bag.
Anderson did not hold De La Cruz at third base, and the youngster saw an opportunity to take home, which he did when Milwaukee reliever Elvis Peguero fired the ball wide of home 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.”
The last player to steal all three bases in the same inning was Miami’s Jon Berti in a 3-0 win against the Mets at Citi Field on Aug. 25, 2020.
“It’s on all of us really, on all of us,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “It was a good baseball by him. We weren’t aware enough, like, all over the place, on the field, in the dugout, everywhere.”
Reds manager David Bell could only marvel at the rookie’s derring-do.
“It’s so much fun to watch, so much fun to be part of,” Bell said. “It’s one of those plays that’s so rare, especially on two pitches to steal a base like that. The speed is obvious, just elite speed like maybe we’ve never seen, but also how heads-up it was.”
In just 29 games, De La Cruz already has amassed 16 steals.
With his 2-for-5 performance, he’s now hitting .328 with an .899 OPS.
Just a few weeks into his MLB career, the infielder has taken the baseball world by storm by hitting for 15 extra-base hits and hitting for his first cycle in just his 15th game.
Between his combination of speed and power, De La Cruz has rightfully emerged as a National League Rookie of the Year favorite.
— with AP