Elly De La Cruz isn’t short on confidence or speed.
The Reds rookie third baseman and cleanup hitter is already one of baseball’s most entertaining prospects and dubbed himself “the fastest man in the world” after an impressive feat.
He helped propel the Reds to an 8-4 victory over the Cardinals on Saturday, where the 21-year-old went 1-for-4 with an RBI, a run scored and a walk.
But that run is the latest example of De La Cruz turning heads on the diamond.
In the top of the seventh inning, the Reds maintained a 5-0 lead with Spencer Steer at the plate.
Steer rocked the 1-0 delivery, with De La Cruz on first base, into right-center field, but the ball one-hopped and was quickly tossed toward the infield.
De La Cruz was given a stop sign to pull up at third base, but ran through it and scored.
According to MLB.com, De La Cruz scored from first in just 11.48 seconds and required only 3.17 to reach home plate from third base.
Jonathan India, who had scored from second, was nearly caught by the sprinting De La Cruz, who spoke of the skilled rookie after the game.
“When I crossed the plate, I turned around and he was already sliding,” he recalled. “He’s the fastest human I’ve ever seen on a baseball field.”
After Saturday’s game, De La Cruz said, “I am the fastest man in the world.
Watch out, Usain Bolt.
Baseball Savant reports that De La Cruz came into Saturday — again, only his fifth MLB game — averaging a 30.8 feet-per-second sprint speed, which would be the highest in all of MLB.
De La Cruz continued to show off his blazing speed in St. Louis on Sunday, beating out an infield single in the first inning.
He finished 2-for-3 in the Reds’ 4-3 win with an RBI, two runs, two walks and a stolen base, his third of the season.
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