Elly De La Cruz breaks his own record with a 99.8 mph throw

A few days ago, Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell asked one of the Reds’ coaches to check the velocity of infielder Elly De La Cruz’s throws. When Bell learned that De La Cruz set a record with a 97.9 mph throw last Sunday, he was surprised.

Bell thought that De La Cruz was actually throwing the ball harder than that.

“The carry that he gets on his ball, I’ve never seen anything like that,” Bell said. “It looks to me like (these throws) are over 100 mph. They weren’t, but what we saw was the carry he’s getting on his throw. It’s still going up.”

On Thursday, in the Reds’ 5-1 win over the San Francisco Giants, De La Cruz proved that he can throw the ball even harder. His 99.8 mph throw on a relay to home plate in the third inning broke his own record for the fastest-tracked infield assist since Statcast began tracking that data in 2015.

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Yet again, the “fastest man alive” did something that no one has ever seen on a baseball field. De La Cruz – who confirmed that he has been clocked throwing the ball 100 mph – wasn’t surprised.

“I know I can throw it a little bit faster than that,” De La Cruz said via interpreter Jorge Merlos. “I knew that I had to make a hard throw. We had to get that guy out at home. But you know what? I can definitely throw harder than that.”

Outside of spring training, MLB teams rarely work on relay plays even though they’re one of the most complex aspects of the game. It takes timing, chemistry, accuracy and instincts.Since Will Benson spent most of spring training in left field, since Elly De La Cruz was a minor leaguer at the time and since Luke Maile was trading reps with three other catchers in spring training, that trio of players likely had never practiced a relay throw before Giants first baseman Wilmer Flores doubled in the third inning.

Over the last few years, the Reds have had some rookie infielders who really struggled on relay throws. At one point in 2022, there were so many mistakes that Bell had the entire team practice relay throws before a game in August. But De La Cruz’s instincts are just as impressive as his speed and his arm strength. On Thursday, he was in the perfect position to make another incredible play.

“The thing about Elly right now is that he’s just helping us win in so many ways,” Bell said. “A lot of it goes maybe unnoticed even though we’re all recognizing what a special player he is. His defense, even (catching) pop ups that a lot of players don’t get to on the field. Obviously taking a run off the board is huge in any game. That was a big play today.”

The relay throw started with an accurate throw from Benson. The Reds expected Flores, who started the play on first base, to try to go all the way home. So De La Cruz lined up in shallow left field to cut off Benson’s throw and make the throw to the plate.

When De La Cruz caught the ball, there was a collective gasp in the crowd at Great American Ball Park. As De La Cruz grabbed the ball and wound up his arm to make the throw, everyone knew that they were about to see something special.

“There’s no doubt in my head that we had it,” Reds starting pitcher Andrew Abbott said. “Elly has got a strong arm. We know that.”

There was one problem with De La Cruz’s throw to home plate.

“It was really hard,” Maile said. “A little wide, but we’ll take it.”

Because of where De La Cruz threw the ball, Maile had to make an acrobatic play to tag out Flores. De La Cruz’s throw home was up the first base line. Maile was standing with his left foot on the far right corner of home plate. Maile had to reach to his right for De La Cruz’s throw and then reach all the way back in the other direction to tag out Flores on the other side of the plate.

“We have a ridiculous rule now,” Maile said. “I have no idea why. You have to start in fair territory. You can’t start in foul territory. It happened to (catcher) Jonah Heim in Texas where he got called for it. I have no idea why. I’ve adjusted. Now, I don’t know what I do. I just make sure I’m not in foul territory. It’s really, really confusing.”

Because De La Cruz’s throw arrived so quickly to home plate, Maile had enough time to tag out Flores. It saved Abbott’s shutout on a day where he pitched eight scoreless innings.

Abbott has played with De La Cruz for most of the last two seasons, beginning when they were teammates in Low-A in 2021. Abbott has gotten used to moments like De La Cruz’s record-setting throw.

“Another Tuesday (for him),” Abbott said.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Elly De La Cruz set the MLB record with 99.8 mph infield assist