Ellie de la Cruz (Cincinnati Reds) hit a home run in two games of her major league debut.
De La Cruz started as the 4th batter shortstop in the 2023 major league match against the Los Angeles Dodgers held at Crate American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA on the 8th (Korean time) and recorded 2 hits, 2 RBIs, 2 runs and 2 strikeouts in 4 at-bats. did.
De la Cruz was ranked fourth overall in the prospect rankings by the MLB Pipeline. In his debut on the 7th, his batting speed was 112 miles (about 180 km / h), and he hit a hit with a fast batting ball, which became a hot topic.
De la Cruz’s momentum continued in the next day’s game. De la Cruz got his first at-bat with a runner on second base with two outs in the bottom of the first inning, trailing 0–2. He boldly swung Noah Syndergaard’s two-pitch, four-seam fastball over the right fence. He intuited that it was a home run the moment he hit, and after a brief bat flip, he ran the bases. His exit velocity was 114.8 mph (about 185 km/h).
According to MLB.com, the official homepage of Major League Baseball, the ball hit by De La Cruz is the second strongest hit since 2015 when the ‘Statcast’ technology was introduced.
After the game, De La Cruz said, “We’re in a positive mood. There’s a sense that we’re going to make it to the World Series.” Regarding the home run, he said, “I had an intuition that it went over the moment I hit it.”
De la Cruz’s excellent motor skills also shined in the second at-bat. De la Cruz hit Syndergaard’s curveball in the bottom of the third inning with the score trailing 3-6, making a ball that cut through right-center. De La Cruz quickly turned second base and stepped on third base. ‘MLB.com’ said, “De la Cruz went from home to third base in 10.83 seconds. It is the fastest speed in the major leagues this season.”
“I think about triples all the time,안전놀이터” De La Cruz said. “Every time I go between fielders, I always try to get to third.”
De La Cruz has 3 hits, 1 home run, 2 RBIs, 3 runs scored, 2 walks and 3 strikeouts in his first two games since his debut, with a batting average of .429 and 1.286 OPS. His three hits are a double, triple and home run. ‘Super rookie’ De La Cruz has been attracting attention with his tremendous performance from the beginning.