Elly De La Cruz is the top prospect in the Cincinnati Reds organization. Some publications have him as the top prospect in all of minor league baseball. He missed the start of the season as he recovered from a hamstring injury that he suffered in spring training.
When he got healthy he was assigned to Triple-A Louisville. Once he joined the Bats things got out to a slow start. He went 1-21 to begin the season. But he’s turned things around in a big way since that point. Elly De La Cruz has had 41 plate appearances since then and he’s hit .359/.390/.590 with two doubles, two triples, and a home run.
Overall his numbers still don’t look great – his OPS is .691 after going 2-4 on Friday night in Omaha. That 1-21 slump to begin the season is still playing heavy and hiding just how well he’s been hitting over the past week-and-a-half.
This season all ballparks in Triple-A have the Hawkeye camera system set up. That’s the system used in Major League Baseball to give us the Statcast data – pitch speed, exit velocities, launch angles, arm strength on throws, sprint speeds, etc.
These things have made Elly De La Cruz stand out, but we’re seeing it with real numbers that we can compare to other players now. His exit velocities have been high, his sprint speed has been among the best in Triple-A, and his throws have been impressive.
On Friday night he was playing third base in Omaha and he had to make a strong throw to try and get Brewer Hicklen out at first base. Hicklen got to first base in 4.21 seconds after contact – plus speed down the line.
As you can see in the video, Elly De La Cruz put just about everything he had into the throw. The video doesn’t show the other side of the play, unfortunately, but the throw got there in time for the out.
The throw itself was 99.2 MPH. That is the fastest throw by an infielder this year in Triple-A. It’s also faster than any throw by an infielder this year in Major League Baseball. Elly De La Cruz has played in 13 games. He has four of the 11 fastest throws recorded by Hawkeye this season between the Florida State League (Single-A), all of Triple-A, and all of Major League Baseball. Leo Balcazar, who is now out for the season after tearing his ACL, has the #4 spot on the list at 97.4 MPH.