Elly De La Cruz reaches 3 times in debut for Cincinnati Reds, who rally to beat Dodgers
“El-ly! El-ly! El-ly!”
By the time the top prospect in baseball stepped to the plate in the big leagues for the fourth time in his life, Elly De La Cruz had reached base three times, represented the tying run in the late innings and had the Cincinnati Reds faithful chanting his name at Great American Ball Park.
He didn’t deliver in the at-bat, grounding sharply to second for the final out of the sixth.
But De La Cruz more than delivered on the sizable local and national hype Tuesday night in his long-awaited debut – not to mention delivering a charge into a long-slumbering fan base, with more than 20,000 strong spending much of his time at the plate on their feet.
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“It’s exciting. It’s exciting for our organization,” manager David Bell said of the debut that represents at least the symbolic launch of general manager Nick Krall’s Next Great Reds Team.
When Tuesday’s attendance of 22,602 was announced, the Reds said that’s 6,000 more than a typical Tuesday night to this point in the season (essentially what used to be considered a “walk-up” bump in sales, but that’s now harder to measure because of several different electronic methods for ticket distribution).
Regardless, the buzz was palpable from the time De La Cruz spent probably too long, too close to game time signing autographs, to when he took the field at third base to open the top of the first, to every plate appearance he made worth watching.
“He’s as ready as you can be,” Bell said. “I also think there’s something to be said for trusting these guys, putting them right in there and letting them experience everything.”
To wit: The second-youngest position play in the majors (behind Cardinals’ outfielder Jordan Walker) batted cleanup in his debut, wearing No. 44 to pay respects to former Reds MVP Eric Davis.
“This guy comes with a lot of fanfare, so I’m actually really curious myself,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “David’s got him hitting fourth, so obviously he thinks something of the player.”
Whatever happens next in his career, De La Cruz lived up to the hype for at least this night.
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After falling behind in his first PA against Tony Gonsolin, he worked the count full and drew a six-pitch walk. Next at-bat: Two big swings and misses followed by a drive through the right-field gap for a double and first big-league hit.
Two innings later, another walk.
He finished 1-for-3 with the two walks and a run scored.
“This is a special moment for an organization with a special young man who has special talent,” said franchise icon Barry Larkin, the Hall of Famer.
About the only thing De La Cruz couldn’t deliver on this night was a victory, leaving that up to teammates, who rallied in the ninth, with Matt McLain -- who debuted just three weeks ago -- hitting a walk-off "single" over center fielder Jason Heyward's head with the bases loaded to cap a three-run rally and 9-8 victory.
It was the second straight win for the Reds during this homestead of National League front-runners after dropping the first three games to the Milwaukee Brewers.
This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: Top prospect Elly De La Cruz lives up to hype in Cincinnati Reds debut
