WATCH: Reds’ Elly De La Cruz launches 470 feet moonshot in Spring training against Rockies
Elly De La Cruz blasted his first Spring training home run of the year against the Rockies.
Elly De La Cruz (Image via Yahoo Sports/X)
Elly De La Cruz is well and truly back. After having one of the most electrifying debut season, the Cincinnati Reds youngster is now gearing up for his first full season in MLB. In the recent Spring training game, he once again reminded the world off his hitting prowess.
The 22-year-old Dominican Republic International recently stole the show in the batting practice session when he accidentally smashed the glass window of Hunter Greene‘s car. He was somehow able to pull the ball all the way back to the parking lot, thus signaling his amazing strength.
The game between the Reds and the Rockies did not receive much coverage on TV. However, the attention of the fans soon turned towards it as the word spread out De La Cruz launched a 470 feet moonshot off Rockies pitcher Cal Quantrill‘s 1-1 pitch. Check out the footage of his shot from a video shared on X below:
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The ball landed somewhere in the grass field in the right center field. This also turned out to be his first Spring training homerun of the year. Here is another footage of it from behind the home plate which is going viral on social media.
Despite this towering hit, De La Cruz was unable to save his team from a defeat. The Rockies would end the game on top of the American League Central side by a final score of 10-4.
Related: “Best pitcher of this generation,” Tigers’ top prospect Jackson Jobe highly praises Yankees’ ace Gerrit Cole after dream meeting with his pitching idol
Elly De La Cruz working on batting stance ahead of 2024 season
The expectations are definitely high on the young shoulder of Elly De La Cruz. After making a huge impact in such a short span of time, he has become one of the top names of the Cincinnati Reds. He is thus working on improving his batting stance ahead of the 2024 season.
Elly De La Cruz (Image via Bleacher Report)
The 22-year-old is undergoing some hitting adjustments training with Reds’ batting coach Joel McKeithan. In this, he has decreased his usage of leg kicking and is trying to see the ball longer before swinging his bat.
We have this new style that we’re working with, and we’re going to try it out in Spring Training and see how well it works. The best thing he’s been teaching me is to just stay back and wait for the ball as long as possible. We’ve been working really well.
Elly De La Cruz on his hitting stance.
Another interesting thing is that he is trying to bat more frequently as a switch hitter. This could become a huge problem for opposition pitchers in the 2024 season. It will be interesting to see how the youngstar performs with this improved batting stance.
On top of this, he will also undergo a change in field position. Though he started his MLB career as a third baseman, as part of the team’s new strategy, he will occupy the shortstop role in the 2024 campaign. It will be interesting to see how De La Cruz will perform with all this changes.
