Dude is special. 

6 hours ago, TheDeuce said:

Dude is special. 

I know I have the wait and see attitude, but I admit he's raising my eyebrows.  Folks should enjoy the show as long as he is around.

3 hours ago, OlDog75 said:

I know I have the wait and see attitude, but I admit he's raising my eyebrows.  Folks should enjoy the show as long as he is around.

Reds payroll 2037

EDLC $75 million

Rest of roster $50 million

https://www.mlb.com/reds/news/elly-de-la-cruz-statcast-feats

 

5) A 100 mph throw … from the infield

De La Cruz has elite arm strength, too. Besides the hardest-hit ball and the hardest home run of the Minor League season, he also has the hardest tracked infield throw.

That throw, on May 12, clocked in at 100.2 mph. Yes, triple digits from third base across the diamond.

No infielder has a 100 mph throw in an MLB game tracked by Statcast … yet.

Great article talking about how truly different he is from anyone else. Hits as hard left as he does right, which is harder than any switch hitter. Is as fast as the current fastest MLB player and throws harder than anyone else on the infield. This kid is a physical freak and should be enjoyed as long as it last. 

 

First 8 MLB AB...has hit .500 (HR, 3B, 2B and 1B), walked and stole a base.

We all know he's going to have an 0'fer night and the naysayers are going to come out of the woodwork to say, see I told you so. And all I'll tell them is, "Shut-up and crawl back in your hole!"

He's currently 5 for 15 and hitting .333 with a 1.145 OPS.  

The only downside to his game so far is that he's struck out 9 times in 15 at bats.  

3 hours ago, Carl Spackler said:

He's currently 5 for 15 and hitting .333 with a 1.145 OPS.  

The only downside to his game so far is that he's struck out 9 times in 15 at bats.  

I am expecting a lot of strike outs and I am expecting the strike outs to start going down quickly as he gets more experience at this level. That's what happened at AAA.

Aggressive hitters strike out a lot.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/SO_career.shtml

From Lance McAlister yesterday:

Cincinnati Reds 4 Cards 3
Elly De La Cruz reached base four more times, including an 8th inning walk that led to him scoring the go ahead run as the Reds beat the Cardinals 4-3 Sunday afternoon at Busch Stadium. The Reds took 2 of 3 in the series. 
Then and now: The Reds are 31-35. A year ago they stood 23-43 through 66 games.
Elly: 2 for 3, 2 BB, 2 R, RBI, SB.
1st AB: Beat out one bounce chopper to 1B for an infield single. 
That's 3 infield hits in a span of 4 hits. He's hit in all six games.
2nd AB: He waited on a slow curve, leaned out and slapped it, basically on one leg, into CF for an RBI single.....at 109.4 mph? OK. That's insane. 
3rd AB: Walk.....SB....R
4th AB: Walk....R. He was running/avoided DP on Steer groundout. Advanced to 3rd on passed ball. Scored go ahead run on FC w/ head first slide. 
5th AB: Fielder's choice 
Elly in the field: He made a 96.6 mph throw. Per Baseball America, the hardest throw by any MLB infielder this year and the hardest of the Statcast era (2015). He threw two balls harder at Triple-A this season. 
Hunter Greene: 5.1 IN, 6 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 9 K, 88 pitches/61 strikes. At 3-3 in the 6th, he was done after hitting a batter and walking a batter with one out. After throwing a lot of pitches in the 1st and 2nd, he did a nice job of getting back on track. 
He keeps hitting: 3 more hits for Will Benson. He is 13 for 36 (.361) since starting the season 1 for 25 (.040).
Need him: TJ Friedl snapped an 0 for 8 start off the IL with a one out double in the 7th. 
Circle the sequence: The Reds had the go ahead run on 3rd with one out in the 7th after a Friedl double and advancement to 3rd on a wild pitch. But Matt McLain struck out and India flew out. 
Got him! Casali threw out Paul Goldschmidt attempting to steal in the 7th inning. The first time Goldschmidt has been caught since May of 2019 (30 for 30). The longest active streak in MLB. 
Bullpen: 3.2 IN, 0 R. Gibaut stranded two runners at 3-3 and 1 out in 6th and then tossed a scoreless 7th. Sims worked around a leadoff walk in the 8th. Diaz picked up his 15th save in 15 tries this season 20th consecutive overall. 
Guile and Guts: 41-year old Adam Wainwright had the Reds off balance much of the afternoon with a slop combo of a 65 mph curve and 85 mph fastball. India jacked a 1st HR (7) to straightaway CF (409 feet) in the 1st inning. But Wainwright took a 3-2 lead to the 6th before the Reds tied the game and knocked him out. 5.2 IN, 3 R.
How the Reds scored
1st: India HR, 1-0 Reds 
3rd: De La Cruz RBI 1B scored Casali, 2-2 
6th: Stephenson RBI 1B, scored De La Cruz, 3-3 
8th: De La Cruz scored on fielder' choice by Stephenson, 4-3 Reds

2 Parter.

1) What are your EDLC predictions for Average, HR, RBI, SB (feel free to add other metrics) at the end of the season?

2) What does a good year for EDLC look like?

 

12 minutes ago, Jumper_Dad said:

2 Parter.

1) What are your EDLC predictions for Average, HR, RBI, SB (feel free to add other metrics) at the end of the season?

2) What does a good year for EDLC look like?

 

I'm thinking if he can hit upward of 285 everything else will fall in line.  That would be a successful year.

1 hour ago, 4 Quarters said:

I'm thinking if he can hit upward of 285 everything else will fall in line.  That would be a successful year.

If he hits .285 he'll either be NL ROY or very close to it.

On 6/13/2023 at 7:28 PM, Jumper_Dad said:

If he hits .285 he'll either be NL ROY or very close to it.

As talented as De La Cruz is, it will be a monumental upset if he, and not Corbin Carroll, is ROY.  Carroll has a 56 game head start and is already at 17 2Bs, 3 3Bs, 14 HRs, 51 Runs, 35 RBI, and 19 SB.  He's also hitting .313 with a .998 OPS.  Barring a major injury, he just has too big of a jump on EDLC. 

17 minutes ago, Carl Spackler said:

As talented as De La Cruz is, it will be a monumental upset if he, and not Corbin Carroll, is ROY.  Carroll has a 56 game head start and is already at 17 2Bs, 3 3Bs, 14 HRs, 51 Runs, 35 RBI, and 19 SB.  He's also hitting .313 with a .998 OPS.  Barring a major injury, he just has too big of a jump on EDLC. 

I agree completely, Carroll would have to drop off for sure. If EDLC is hitting .285 or better, he will be in the discussion. I do seem to remember back a few summers and you saying that India had no chance of winning ROY too. So who knows?

EDLC has a lot of work to do to get in the conversation at this point.