Reds rookie Elly De La Cruz lit the baseball world on fire on Friday night, when he recorded a cycle in his 15th game. Twitter reacted with memes and insane stats.
Elly De La Cruz continued to blow the minds of baseball fans as he was able to record his first career cycle in his 15th career game. He became the first Red to achieve the feat since Eric Davis did so in 1989. De La Cruz wears the same number 44 that Davis wore over 30 years ago.
De La Cruz tallied a leadoff double in the second inning, followed by a 96 MPH 2-run home run in the third. He came back up in the fifth, where he scored a broken bat single and a stolen base. An inning later, he roped a ball into the right center gap and less than 11 seconds later, he was on third base with the cycle.
The Reds rookie has completely shattered statcast norms with his insane raw talent. During his cycle, he recorded an exit velocity of 116.6 MPH on his double and a home to third time of 10.83 second on his triple.
De La Cruz turned twitter and the baseball world on their heads with his incredible mix of power, speed and athleticism. He was mentioned as a “once in a hundred years type of player” on the Reds broadcast, but that might be better worded as the only player in history of his kind.
Reds’ Elly De La Cruz hits for the cycle: Best memes, tweets, and insane stats
https://twitter.com/espn/status/1672411688027422721?s=20
Elly De La Cruz has already hit the second hardest ball in Reds history since we’ve had Statcast data (double), hit a two-run homer, singled in a run, stole a base (he’s 7-for-7), hit an RBI triple for the cycle, and made a sick catch in foul territory. It’s the 6th inning.
— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) June 24, 2023
https://twitter.com/WINCINNATI_/status/1672414438106836993?s=20
On that triple Elly De La Cruz went first to second in 3.1 seconds. He went home to third in 10.83 seconds. That is tied for the fastest home to third time this year.
— JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) June 24, 2023
The other 10.83-second triple? Elly De La Cruz.
Check this dude out. He is a once in a generation type of talent. Announcers said “once in a hundred years” talent which just might be true. Athleticism for days. https://t.co/WLXgF5UfLS
— James Alexander (@jamessalexander) June 24, 2023
https://twitter.com/PJ_More_Muscle/status/1672413528240603137?s=20
at 21 years & 163 days old, Elly De La Cruz is the 5th-youngest player to hit for the cycle, older than only:
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) June 24, 2023
5/16/1929 Mel Ott: 20 y, 75 d
6/13/1918 Cliff Heathcote: 20 y, 140 d
6/24/1933 Arky Vaughan: 21 y, 107 d
8/2/1972 César Cedeño: 21 y, 159 d https://t.co/jUbMoNmsZ3
There are cycles, and there's what Elly De La Cruz did tonight.
— Charlie Goldsmith (@CharlieG__) June 24, 2023
-A flare RBI single
-A 116 mph double that dented the right field wall
-An aggressive turn for a triple in a ballpark where triples rarely happen
-A homer with a 37 degree launch angle
There aren’t many players that bring as much excitement to the game. He rivals some of the game’s greats like Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuña when it comes to excitement and energy. He truly is a once in a lifetime player with the ability to be one of the most exciting players this game has ever seen.
Elly described his game as “electricidad” and he has lived up to that claim with his electric play. This certainly won’t be the last time he breaks the Twitter world with his ridiculous play.