Elly De La Cruz is first Cincinnati player to hit for the cycle since Eric Davis in 1989
Cincinnati Reds phenom Elly De La Cruz tripled in the bottom of the 6th inning Friday night against the Atlanta Braves at Great American Ball Park, becoming the first Reds player to hit for the cycle since Eric Davis in 1989.
De La Cruz doubled to center in the bottom of the 2nd inning, homered to right center in the 3rd and hit an RBI single to center in the 5th.
De La Cruz is only 21 years old. But according to ESPN Stats & Info, he is the first player in the World Series Era (since 1903) to record 20 hits, 5 stolen bases and 3 HR in his first 15 career games.
"There is no comp! He's Elly De La Cruz! He's him!" Bally Sports Ohio play-by-play broadcaster John Sadak said during the broadcast.
"I've never seen anything even remotely close to this," Reds first baseman Joey Votto said of De La Cruz after the game.
Social media reactions to EDLC's night:
There are cycles, and there's what Elly De La Cruz did tonight.
-A flare RBI single
-A 116 mph double that dented the right field wall
-An aggressive turn for a triple in a ballpark where triples rarely happen
-A homer with a 37 degree launch angle— Charlie Goldsmith (@CharlieG__) June 24, 2023
There it is!
The Cincinnati Reds' first cycle since Eric Davis in 1989.
It's the man who wears the same No. 44 in honor of Davis -- of course.
Elly De La Cruz ends the majors' longest cycle drought for a team with a sixth-inning triple.— Gordon Wittenmyer (@GDubMLB) June 24, 2023
1-of-1 pic.twitter.com/zdv790l1Wg
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) June 24, 2023
THE MOST EXCITING 10.83 SECONDS IN SPORTS ⚡⚡⚡@ellylacocoa18 pic.twitter.com/3lJjyhWRkc
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) June 24, 2023
ELLY MANIA! pic.twitter.com/JNXBatw8v2
— MLB (@MLB) June 24, 2023
IT'S AN ELLY DE LA CRUZ CYCLE!
In just his 15th big league game, Elly notches the first @Reds cycle since 1989: pic.twitter.com/15RVzTV6ME— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) June 24, 2023
this is Elly De La Cruz’s 15th career game
that’s the 3rd-fewest career games at the time of a player’s first career cycle, among those to debut since 1900, behind only:
6/13/1918 Cliff Heathcote: 6
9/18/1980 Gary Ward: 14
h/t @EliasSports https://t.co/eu8sM3FREQ— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) June 24, 2023
ELLY DE LA CRUZ
10.83 SECONDS HOME-TO-THIRD...AGAIN
THAT’S TIED FOR THE FASTEST-TRACKED HOME-TO-THIRD TIME IN MLB THIS SEASON...WITH HIMSELF ON 6/7!
AND TIED FOR 2ND-FASTEST SINCE START OF 2020 (Corbin Carroll 10.75 sec, 10/3/22) https://t.co/BhgK7muXvd— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) June 24, 2023
The Reds had gone 34 years between cycles before Ely De La Cruz finally broke that drought tonight.
So they’d probably think it’s hard to do … if they hadn’t allowed 3 of them just to Christian Yelich!— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) June 24, 2023
In between the last 2 Reds cycles (Eric Davis & Elly De La Cruz), the Reds had 9 cycles against them.
— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) June 24, 2023
Elly De La Cruz accomplishes this at just 21 years old. https://t.co/v93iC7SwHA
— Charlie Goldsmith (@CharlieG__) June 23, 2023
"GOOOONE! De La Cruz does it again!"
The top @Reds prospect goes yard for the third time in the bigs this year: pic.twitter.com/Vaa1Ayqaz0— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) June 23, 2023
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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Elly De La Cruz hits for the cycle, first Cincinnati player since 1989
