Fansided

5 more young MLB stars who should follow in Bobby Witt Jr.'s footsteps

The Kansas City Royals locked up their 23-year-old phenom by signing him to a massive contract yesterday. What other teams should follow suit with their young stars?

By Terrence Jordan

Gunnar Henderson is just one of the game's young stars that deserve a long-term contract
Gunnar Henderson is just one of the game's young stars that deserve a long-term contract / Brandon Sloter/GettyImages
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Cincinnati Reds infielder Elly De La Cruz

Speaking of exciting young infielders that can play both shortstop and third base, Elly De La Cruz fits the bill and then some. The 6'5" switch-hitter isn't just a five-tool player, he's like if Bob Vila and Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor collaborated with Wakanda on a set of Vibranium wrenches.

De La Cruz burst onto the scene last June with a bang, batting cleanup and helping the Cincinnati Reds to a 9-8 comeback win over the Los Dodgers. His unparalleled combination of speed (he was clocked as baseball's fastest player last year) and power is like if someone went wild on the Create-a-Player mode on MLB The Show, resulting in some of the most ridiculous plays of the year.

Despite only being in the majors for less than a month, De La Cruz appeared three separate times on MLB's "Top 50 Plays of the 1st half" video, including taking the second and sixth spots on the list. He's one of the handful of players at the top of anyone's "Don't miss this guy's at-bats under any circumstances" list, and a huge reason why the Reds had a massive increase of over 600,000 fans in attendance last year.

Baseball is often criticized by people that don't know any better for being a boring game without the same level of athletes that one could find in the NFL or NBA. They obviously haven't seen Elly De La Cruz.

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