Elly De La Cruz hits for cycle: Reds phenom does it all vs. Braves

Somehow, Elly De La Cruz keeps managing to one-up himself. He arrived to the Cincinnati Reds surrounded by as much hype as any prospect in recent memory, a 6'5 shortstop with the kind of size, speed and skill that comes around once or twice in a generation. And then he stepped foot on a Major League field, and he was somehow even better than advertised – immediately hitting balls harder and flying around the bases faster than just about anyone in baseball.

De La Cruz entered Friday night's marquee matchup against the Atlanta Braves with two homers, six steals and a .923 OPS over his first 14 games, a big part of why Cincinnati had ripped off 11 wins in a row. But of course, he wasn't satisfied, so he decided to add yet another bullet point to his already-lengthy resume: He went ahead and hit for the cycle. Even more ridiculous, he needed just to do it.

First he doubled in the bottom of the second. Then, just one inning later, came an absolute moonshot of a homer to right:

ELLY DE LA CRUZ IS ELECTRIC. ?? pic.twitter.com/Vs9uWzWWq3

– MLB (@MLB) June 23, 2023

  
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