It was talked about, it is talked about here and there, almost everywhere, last November it was on the cover of Baseball America and afterwards we all wanted to continue seeing his talent with the Tigres del Licey in LIDOM, the highest baseball event professional in Quisqueya.
It was like that, but the Cincinnati Reds had reasons to be cautious, in particular one, Elly De la Cruz was their best prospect, she still is, yes, as you read it, number 1 in the organization and 10 in all of baseball. .
It’s on the cusp
Baseball Reference refers that, in 24 games in the Dominican contest, De la Cruz left a cut sheet of 286/396/417, with 1 home run and 14 RBIs, a brief sample of what we had seen months ago, when in the Granjas de los Rojos exploded with all the potential that endorsed it from the moment it was selected back in 2019.
In 2022, we had the best version of the criollo, superior to that immense player who impressed fans and specialists for the ease with which the shortstop played despite his almost two meters at the time of his irruption in the Dominican Summer League .
MLB.com tells us that last year, in his first full season in the Minors, Elly De la Cruz once and for all dismissed any doubts that might exist regarding his condition and sent out a clear message: he was ready for bigger things.
Numbers and a little more
In 120 games, playing class A and double A, the Caribbean left a cut sheet of 304/359/586, with 28 homers and 86 RBIs, in addition to shooting 31 doubles and 9 triples as extra-base hits.
It was a consecration year and with a view to 2023, when the organization began to discard the options of the Cuban José Barrero and the experienced Kevin Newman to solve the shortstop dilemma, when that happens and reality becomes somewhat diffuse, he emerges, the impressive prospect, the one that is talked about so much, the same one we have praised in this text, Elly De la Cruz.
No one doubts that if he didn’t start with the first team, after months, he could be saying he was present at the first level. This is what the fans expect and we are already expectant, will it be?
