Elly De La Cruz, A Rookie With The Reds, Declared Boldly, “I am the fastest man in the world”
Elly De La Cruz has fully displayed his impressive abilities during his debut week in the professional leagues—finally, sweeping declarations…. Read the full story
Elly De La Cruz, A Rookie With The Reds, Declared Boldly, "I am the fastest man in the world" - the image is a video screen grab.
Elly De La Cruz has fully displayed his impressive abilities during his debut week in the professional leagues—finally, sweeping declarations.
The Cincinnati Reds‘ flamboyant rookie has kept the statisticians at Statcast busy during his first five games with throws from deep in the hole at shortstop at speeds of 99 mph, as well as with monster power and exit velocity at the plate and lightning-quick speed on the base paths.
On Saturday, De La Cruz scored from first base on a double by third baseman Spencer Steer, highlighting the importance of that speed. According to MLB.com, De La Cruz completed the journey in 11.48 seconds, while the distance from third base to home base took him just 3.17 seconds.
After the game, Reds colleague Jonathan India commented, “He’s the fastest human I’ve ever seen on a baseball field.”
De La Cruz expanded on it by saying, “I am the fastest man in the world.”
Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals, whose timing of 30.4 feet per second leads all qualifiers, is slightly quicker than De La Cruz’s average sprint speed of 30.8 feet per second.
After five games, De La Cruz is hitting.316 with a.409 on-base percentage and a.632 slugging percentage.
