No Cincinnati Reds candidate has opened more eyes this season than 19-year-old infielder Elly De La Cruz.
Within a month, he went from being a player who made his rookie-level debut in the States in the Arizona Complex League to a man who is considered the consensus among the top 10 contenders in the organization. He’s a potential five tool talent that seemed to come out of nowhere.
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De La Cruz, the youngest player to join Low-A Daytona, has scored 19 extra base hits (eight doubles, six threes and five homers) in 29 games. There are still many raw areas of his game, batting .274 with nine walks and 52 strikeouts in 117 at-bats, but the edge is staggering with its speed, arm and power.
“I’m a Boy Scout and I don’t even know what to say,” said Shawn Pender, director of Reds Farm. “I get a call or something like that every two weeks or so, ‘Hey man, who the hell is Elly De La Cruz?'”
For an organization that had desperately needed to improve in the international marketplace over the past decade, the Reds may have found a hidden gem in De La Cruz, which signed from the Dominican Republic in 2018. He is ranked the 10th best prospect in the farm system by MLB.com and Baseball America.
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Pender heard from De La Cruz, who is taller than his listed 6-foot-2,150-pound body, for about a month when the Reds considered bringing him to Arizona from the DR. Pender watched a video of him, but it wasn’t until he saw him in person that he realized all of De La Cruz’s talent.
“Everyone was always talking about him, his energy, his passion, his tools, his sense of the game you talked about as a little kid, you don’t expect everything at once, do you?” Said Pender. “I was down there for a game and I was like a fool for not doing it sooner. All I had to do was watch five innings and say, ‘Oh my god’.
“You can’t see on the video how he’s going backwards, taking the extra base, or his angles and cuts on the bases for a young child. Just a really good feeling. It was exciting. “
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When De La Cruz was promoted to Daytona, the news spread quickly. Justin Rocke, the team’s broadcaster, tweeted after his fourth game: “He’s not on a prospect report, but this kid is a top 30 prospect if I’ve ever seen one.”
His teammate, pitcher Wes Robertson, tweeted this week, “Dude does 2-3 things a night that make me shake my head in amazement. I really feel like a kid who watches him play and is excited every time he steps up. “
An American League team scout says De La Cruz needs to improve his record discipline, especially with two hits, but he has impressive club speed and should hit for more power if he stops hitting that many floor balls.
The Reds didn’t have many major leaguers at their academy in the Dominican Republic, an area where they couldn’t keep up with most organizations. They’ve signed some top talent Cuban players over the past decade, but Aristides Aquino and Wandy Peralta top their list of the academy’s domestic international signings.
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Triple-A Louisville reliever Dauri Moreta, 25, has allowed four runs in 41 1/3 innings this year (0.87 ERA) and could be an addition to the Reds bullpen in September.
“In my opinion, we had to do a better job than what we did,” said Pender. “A lot of it is quite honest, to be able to put it together. We weren’t in this position before. “
One of the big changes that was supposed to begin before the 2020 season was erased was the introduction of Luis Bolivar as the coordinator of the academies. With the Dayton Dragons for three years, Bolivar now oversees on-field baseball activities at the Latin American and Goodyear complexes in Arizona.
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He’ll spend about 10 days in each complex before moving on to the next, but it has helped give players a consistent message on where to improve.
“For the Latin American kid, a lot of this is just adjusting beyond play,” Pender said. “It’s the cultural part. Now in both places they have someone who speaks their language and is a teacher, mentor and friend. It has a huge impact. I think it really helped. “
Improving the international pipeline has been a priority for several years. Pender credited general manager Nick Krall and former baseball business president Dick Williams for investing more money and resources in their international endeavors. The Reds hired Trey Hendricks as their international scouting director in October 2018.
De La Cruz represents part of the potential. The Reds have several of their high profile international signatories playing in the Arizona Complex League. Andruw Salcedo, an 18-year-old catcher from Colombia, hits .404 in 18 games.
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“I think it will pay off,” said Pender. “I think we can see that now. We’ll bring the boys here early. They adapt faster. There are more resources to balance the educational opportunities for them.
“We talked about how important it is. Now we’re living it. “
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