Nationals manager takes offense to Elly De La Cruz mocking him with home run celebration

Cincinnati Reds star Elly De La Cruz crushed a 455-foot home run in Wednesday’s win over the Washington Nationals, and he had a message for the Nats’ dugout. 

The Cincinnati Reds wiped the floor with the Washington Nationals, 9-2, on Wednesday to continue their torrid stretch of winning in advance of the All-Star break. Cincy is now nine games above .500, 48-39, with sole possession of first place in the NL Central.

A major part of the Reds’ resurgent play lately has been rookie sensation Elly De La Cruz, who debuted on June 6 and who has subsequently put the world on notice. In less than a month of games, he has four home runs, 14 RBIs, and 11 stolen bases with a remarkable .318 batting average.

He swatted his fourth home run in the fifth inning Wednesday night — and afterward, he had a message for the Nationals dugout. Washington manager Dave Martinez wasn’t thrilled.

Nationals manager Dave Martinez unhappy with antics of Reds’ Elly De La Cruz

When Elly De La Cruz stepped up to the plate in the second inning of Wednesday night’s game, Nats manager Dave Martinez brought the game to a screeching halt. He pointed out a rubber knob at the end of De La Cruz’s bat to the umpires, questioning its utility. The umps made De La Cruz remove it.

Then, before De La Cruz’s next at-bat in the fifth inning, the league office approved the knob and allowed De La Cruz to place it back on his bat. His response: smacking a 455-foot homer to right-center before pouring salt in the Nationals’ wound with a clever gesture.

After the game, Martinez expressed disappointment in De La Cruz’s decision to taunt the Nationals’ dugout.

“I am not trying to penalize this kid. I’m not. I love the way he plays the game,” Martinez told ESPN. “I didn’t like his antics after he hit the home run. We can do without that. He’s only got two weeks in the big leagues, but he’s going to be a good player.”

This is classic old-head, unwritten rules malarkey. De La Cruz clearly felt disrespected by the Nationals’ motion to interrogate his bat. He gave a reason for the gesture to ESPN through an interpreter: “Just to tell everybody that the knob is not the reason why I am doing a good job. It’s because of all the work I’m putting out there.”

De La Cruz is the baseball’s next big star. The MLB has taken a lot of measures to stay relevant in the modern age, some more successful than others. But what will keep the league relevant is stars like De La Cruz who not only bend the laws of physics on the field, but who play to the crowd and make an effort to entertain.

Trash talk is part of sports. If you openly question a player’s integrity, only to get proven wrong before giving up a 455-foot homer, you open yourself up to a quick taunt. It wasn’t even all that egregious; simply a point to his bat handle to prove a point.

De La Cruz will continue to tear through the league. He’s a true five-tool superstar on the rise. Meanwhile, the Nationals are 34-52, putting them dead last in the NL East and 24.0 games out of first place. Perhaps Martinez and company should look inward rather than grasping at straws — or, more accurately, grasping at rubber knobs.