Cincinnati Reds legend and Elly De La Cruz share more than just a number

Elly De La Cruz has captivated the baseball world over the last year. He entered the league as a 21-year-old with the weight of the world on his shoulders. He's truly been seen as a unicorn of the sport, achieving stats and metrics that seems impossible in a baseball player.

De La Cruz is seen as the fastest man in baseball, with his baserunning feats turning heads more often than anybody can keep up. He ranks in the 100th percentile in sprint speed in the league. He's seen exit velocities north of 119 MPH and he's thrown the ball over 100 MPH across the infield.

Last season, he hit for the cycle in a legendary game against the Braves, marking the first cycle in Reds history since Eric Davis did it in the 1980's. With De La Cruz sharing Davis' number, this started the comparisons between the two, but 2024 shows that these two players have more in common than anybody first believed.

Elly De La Cruz draws striking statistical comparison to Reds legend Eric Davis

These two Reds players have more in common than just their jersey number and the cycles they hit for. In fact, they have a ton in common.

Elly is on pace for an almost identical season to what Eric Davis did in 1986 when Davis was 24 years old. De La Cruz is doing this as a 22-year-old that has been in the league for just over a year.

The home run numbers, the incredible stolen base statistics and even the RBI totals are scarily similar. With Elly still growing, he could even go on to outdo his current pace, which is even more incredible to think about.

Obviously, these two seasons aren't identical. Davis hit for a much higher average and struck out less, but he was also an extra season and a half into the big leagues compared to De La Cruz.

Elly De La Cruz is developing as a hitter

Despite this incredible pace, Elly still finds a way to receive a tremendous amount of hate, both from the league and from the Reds fan base in general. A player with De La Cruz's experience and immense potential is bound to go through ups and downs while he learns his way in the big leagues. But his impact on the field is incredible.

He puts fans in the seats, as was obvious on the Reds promotional Elly bobblehead night, where Cincinnati seen a sold-out crowd on a weekday. His fielding value ranks among the best on the Reds.

De La Cruz is just 22 years old, much younger and less experienced than most of the fans that deliver the hate to him. Yes, he strikes out a lot. Yes, he's hitting below .250. But he's growing, learning and adapting to playing the game at the highest level. His raw talent is among the best in the league. The good moments will almost always outweigh the bad moments for the Reds young superstar.