Reds' Joey Votto compares Elly De La Cruz to 'a young Mickey Mantle'

On the night Elly De La Cruz did things nobody in a Cincinnati Reds uniform had ever done, certainly at his age and experience level, he talked about the “honor” it was to play alongside the “legend” that is former MVP Joey Votto.

“I admire him, and he admires me back,” he said in Spanish through the team’s interpreter. “We have those conversations over and over again.”

At which point a voice boomed from behind the cameras during Friday’s media interview:

“Hey! Hey! I didn’t say I admired you back,” Votto called out.

“But I do.”

When De La Cruz wrapped up a minute or two later, he finished, in English, with a smirk: “I’m mad at you, Joey.”

WBC: Mike Trout opens up about facing Shohei Ohtani in WBC

That’s when Votto stepped toward the microphone for his turn, stopping only for an embrace with the kid who was born the year Votto was drafted.

“I told you I love you. I don’t admire you,” Votto said.

And then Votto spent much of the next five minutes trying to define the De La Cruz force of nature that has left longtime baseball people and fans slack-jawed since his June 6 debut – a combination abilities Votto calls “not of this world.”

As illogical as it is for a Reds team with some of the worst starting pitching in the majors and some of the shakiest fielding to have tied the modern franchise record for consecutive victories, try explaining Votto and De La Cruz – in particular the latter.

Votto, who hit two huge home runs Friday in the Reds’ latest and perhaps most improbable of their MLB-leading 27 comeback wins over Atlanta, already has three home runs in four games since returning – at 39 – from nearly a year sidelined because of shoulder and biceps surgery.

Think that’s something? Check out the kid who hit for the cycle on the same night – the first cycle for the Reds since one his mentors, Eric Davis, did it 34 years ago. The kid who nearly stole home on a pickoff throw to first after that triple. The kid whose double earlier in the game was clocked as the hardest ball off a Reds bat this season.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts called him “scary” and a “unicorn” and compared his speed to Deion Sanders after seeing him his first two days in the big leagues.

“It’s incredible,” said Braves star Ronald Acuna Jr., who, like De La Cruz, was a top-ranked prospect in baseball when he debuted. “It’s incredible to see what he’s been doing.”

On Friday, De La Cruz’s home run was his third, the triple his second, the double his fifth, the stolen base earlier in the game his seventh.

The game, his 15th in the big leagues.

He’s batting .359 with a .641 slugging percentage and 1.064 OPS.

Consider that Acuna, the National League’s top All-Star vote recipient, had three hits, including a homer on this night, twice occupying first base with a chance to chat up Votto.

“I told Acuna that he’s my favorite major league player,” Votto said. “And I tell you what, with each game Elly is giving him a run for that.

“I’ve never seen anything remotely close to this.”

De La Cruz has drawn comparisons to power-speed players like Acuna or Davis or young Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz.

“There is no comp,” teammate Jonathan India said. “Elly De La Cruz will be the best baseball player in MLB in the future. He could even be right now.”

In addition to the hitting power and the top sprint speed in the majors, De La Cruz also has an arm that has produced throws to first in the upper-90s. And he’s a switch hitter.

“This is extreme, but has there been a better switch-hitting, speed-power guy?” Votto mused. “The only comp I can think of is Mickey Mantle. A young Mickey Mantle.

“And that’s unfair to put on Elly, maybe one of the greatest players of all-time,” he said. “But he hit a ball off the wall [Friday] as hard as I’ve seen anybody hit a ball. And then he’s trying to score on a pick. And he almost did. You had to get a perfect throw from a Gold Glove-caliber first baseman [Matt Olson].

“So there’s no comparison,” Votto said. “I’ve got nobody to compare him to. There’s no precedent I’ve seen in my experience.”

For his part, De La Cruz is by all accounts humble and a natural fit in a young, high-energy group – “a great teammate,” India said.

“And he’s a winner,” India added. “You get that mixture of talent and competitiveness, it’s a scary sight for the league.”

Said Votto: “Like every player, he’s going to go through stretches where he’s going to have to adjust and refine his game. But just the core of it, just the base of what he has, it’s out of this world.”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Reds' Joey Votto compares Elly De La Cruz to Mickey Mantle