KANSAS CITY, Missouri — There were maybe 30 people inside Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday, busy putting down seats before the game. But everyone turned from time to time to hear the impact of the bat and see where the ball landed.
Inside the cage, with his Ken Griffey Jr.-style backwards hat and graceful left-handed swing, was baseball’s newest pearl. Ellie de la Cruz sent lines to all corners of the gardens or deposited the balls in the stadium seats or fountains.
An hour later, De La Cruz finally entered the visiting dugout, accompanied by a handful of Cincinnati Reds teammates.
It was 2:58 pm. The first launch was four hours away.
Few players who have the banner of baseball’s best prospect defy expectations from day one. More unusual, a prodigy like De La Cruz, a 21-year-old infielder who hit both sides of the plate and whose first week in the majors was legendary.
In his first series in the majors, De La Cruz crushed a 92-mph fastball from Noah Syndergaard and the ball traveled 458 feet in a streak from Great American Ball Park. In the same game against the Dodgers, the taller prospect ran from home plate to third base faster than anyone this season. He launched a 96.6 mph missile to first base.
De La Cruz is only the second player since at least 1900 to record a single, double, triple, home run and stolen base in his first three games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The other was Phil Bruton of the Milwaukee Braves in 1953.
“Honestly, he’s doing really amazing things on the diamond,” Reds manager David Bell said. “The funny thing is, what he was able to contribute helped us win a lot of games.”
That’s something that hasn’t been seen in Cincinnati lately.
The Big Red Machine rusted away decades ago. The 1990 World Series championship in the midst of two bad seasons — though there were some happy moments — is the norm. The Reds lost 100 games last season and have lost seven of the last eight full seasons since 1982. In 2020, they went 31–29 in the playoffs in a season shortened by the Covid-19 pandemic and won the wild card round.
During this time Cincinnati had many stars such as Joey Votto and Johnny Cueto. Others never took off: Brandon Larson, Christopher Kruler and Ryan Wagner.
Perhaps it was that fine line between success and failure that prompted De La Cruz to show up at the ballpark so early that Tuesday.
In the series opener against the Royals, he went 0 for 5, was dismissed twice and was confused. But he immediately tried to restore confidence.
She wore dark glasses on top of her hat, but she never moved her head, and still, she kept hitting balls all over the place, as a few teammates watched.
“There’s definitely an adjustment. There’s a change,” Bell said. “He wants to make sure he’s doing everything right in the dressing room. It’s all very new. I stress, I go back to the calmness of the change. It has a lot to do with how people in the company have prepared it and, in general, not being afraid to ask questions.
De la Cruz has been with the Reds since 2018, when he was signed as an international free agent. 16 years old then. He made his debut in the Dominican Summer League the following year, but did not play all of 2020 when the minor league season was canceled due to the pandemic. He was still playing as a freshman two years ago, before finally moving up to Class A.
However, at that time, his potential was already evident.
De La Cruz shuttled between Class-A Dayton and Double-A Chattanooga last season, where he impressed enough to represent the Reds in the Futures Game.
Come fall, the team placed him on the 40-man roster to protect him from Rule 5, and then he impressed again in spring training before sending him to Triple-A Louisville.
He hit .298 with 12 homers, 36 RBIs and 11 stolen bases before an injury to Nick Sensel opened up a spot in Cincinnati.
“Many Dominicans keep coming up to me, congratulating me and saying, ‘This is just the beginning,'” said de la Cruz, whose family of five brothers and three sisters continued their journey in the Dominican Republic.
Among his mentors were teammates Ketel Marte (Diamondbacks) and Onil Cruz (Pirates).
“They both congratulated me and told me to keep it up,” De La Cruz said.
Unlike many Reds prospects who have to carry a lot of expectations on their shoulders, De La Cruz doesn’t have to chase it alone.
Matt McClain appears in the top five in All-Star voting, fellow infielder Spencer Steer also continues to play, and another rookie, Andrew Abbott, earns a spot in the starting rotation.
They create a refreshing youthful core. They are versatile, energetic and promise a bright future.
Like de la Cruz, the one in the middle of it all.
“What can I say? I live to give my team a chance to win,” he said. “I’m doing my best.”
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