Elly De La Cruz said he takes the “same approach” against every opponent in every place.
But come on.
The way the Cincinnati Reds shortstop has swung at the big-bully champs from Los Angeles over the past week, he looks like a guy who short of being able to single-handedly beat them might want to join them.
“He’s definitely had a lot of success against us,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, laughing when he was asked if he got the impression De La Cruz might be trying to apply for a job with the Dodgers.
“I still recall that homer he hit off (Noah) Syndergaard here,” Roberts said, referring to the 458-foot home run De La Cruz hit to the top of the right field seats at Great American Ball Park in his second big-league game in 2023.
In four games
during an eight-day span, De La Cruz hit a home run against Dodgers pitching in each of the games – including tape-measure shots against Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal last week and a ball that bounced out of GABP on Monday (Sept. 14) off hard-throwing Dodgers reliever Evan Phillips.
Auditioning?
Despite buzz among Los Angeles media last week that De La Cruz will be a Dodger as soon as reaches free agency in three more years, insiders suggest other teams are projecting more need and aggressiveness in that pursuit.
In fact, those nearest, fiercest rivals of the Dodgers are certainly taking notice of how the powerful, elite-speed switch-hitter has performed against Los Angeles in his career: .289 with six home runs, eight stolen bases and a .936 OPS in 23 games entering the second game of this week’s series.
“I know him enough through All-Star games and things like that, that he likes the big stage. He wants to play against the best,” Roberts said. “And against us, he certainly performs.
“Yeah, I think there’s a lot of willing takers for that person and talent.”
And they're sure to be lining up after the 2029 season to descend in free agency. If he makes it that far.
De La Cruz's agent, Scott Boras, last week outlined factors that all but preclude an extension with the Reds, which all but assures the Reds will be compelled to at least consider trading De La Cruz before he reaches free agency.
And this is the kind of stuff the suitors will dream on: De La Cruz’s performance against the Dodgers in the four meetings this season has popped off the stats page – and at times confused Statcast – corresponding with a nearly monthlong heater that is building toward the best finish of his career.
Entering Tuesday he was hitting .419 (36-for-86) in his last 21 games with seven homers, nine doubles, a .767 slugging percentage and 1.236 OPS.
He said Monday’s homer off Phillips felt like he’d hit it as hard as any home run in his career – and said he got short-changed on the “457”-foot measure.
“If the ball leaves the stadium, I think it’s farther than that,” he said.
Reds manager Terry Francona might agree with the short-changed sentiment. Francona was on the other side, managing the Guardians, when De La Cruz in 2023 belted a pitch from Xzavion Curry that Francona has joked might still be going – officially estimated at 467 feet. It remains the longest regular-season shot of EDLC’s career.
“He just caught that one (Monday) like you don’t see very often,” Francona said. “Kind of reminded me of that one in Cleveland.”
The (official) longest regular-season* home runs hit by Elly De La Cruz, who has a career-high 27 this year despite missing three weeks with a hamstring injury in June:
- 467 feet – Sept 26, 2023 at Cleveland (Xzavion Curry)
- 458 feet – June 7, 2023 vs. Dodgers (Noah Syndergaard)
- 457 feet – Sept. 14, 2026 vs. Dodgers (Evan Phillips)
- 456 feet – July 24, 2023 at Milwaukee (Colin Rea)
- 455 feet – July 5, 2023 at Washington (Josiah Gray)
- *Note – He was credited with a 470-foot home run against the Rockies during spring training 2024 at the Talking Stick ballpark in north Scottsdale, Arizona.
But that list isn’t any more impressive than the performance against the Dodgers the last week that accounted for five of the Reds’ seven runs in those four meetings, including all four runs in the last three (3-2, 14-1 and 4-1 Reds losses).
Oh, and did we mention that along the way, he recorded the first triple-digit throw by an infielder for an assist since Statcast began tracking such things in 2015 – a 102-mph short-hop to the plate from the middle of center field on a relay throw that prevented an inside-the-park home run by Teoscar Hernandez in the second game of last week’s series. The throw originally was apparently clocked at 105.3 by Statcast, until the number was taken down from the site for further review and adjusted.
“It’s nice to win games against those guys and still kind of be a fan and marvel at what he can do on a baseball field,” Roberts said. “He’s very impressive.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Is Elly De La Cruz performing like he's applying for job with Dodgers?
