Elly De La Cruz is somehow even managing to make highlight-reel plays as the cutoff man.
De La Cruz and the Cincinnati Reds faced off Sunday against Corbin Carroll and the Arizona Diamondbacks, pitting two of the NL’s top rookies against each other. In the fifth inning, it was De La Cruz who came out on top.
Carroll mashed an 0-2 Graham Ashcraft delivery to the deepest part of the ballpark, and it landed just out of the reach of Reds outfielder TJ Friedl. As Friedl struggled to find the ball, Carroll went zooming around the basepaths at warp speed and tried to come all the way around for an inside-the-park home run. Unfortunately for him though, De La Cruz had different plans.
The shortstop De La Cruz hauled in Friedl’s relay throw and uncorked an absolute dart, mowing down Carroll at the plate by a good six or seven feet. Take a look below.
Don't you dare try to run on TJ Friedl and Elly De La Cruz!
A HUGE play by the Reds at the plate!
🔥🔥⚡⚡ pic.twitter.com/9BkMqsAqIJ
— FanDuel Sports Network Cincinnati (@FanDuelSN_CIN) August 27, 2023
According to the official Reds Twitter/X page, De La Cruz’s throw clocked in at just a smidge under 100 miles per hour (99.7 mph).
Elly De La Cruz just threw this ball 99.7 MPH… @ellylacocoa18 pic.twitter.com/jHUJc46jM1
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) August 27, 2023
The Diamondbacks did still end up winning the game 5-2, and Carroll will also likely end up winning NL Rookie of the Year honors over De La Cruz. But for one brief moment in time Sunday, De La Cruz turned Carroll into nothing more than a sitting duck.
Playing at the shortstop position, we don’t often get to see De La Cruz show off his ICBM of an arm. It is definitely there though along with De La Cruz’s stallion-like speed and lumberjack power.
