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Cincinnati Reds' Elly De La Cruz Continues to Do Things to Move Up Ranks in Team History

Cincinnati Reds rookie Elly De La Cruz continues to do things that make team history, including a leadoff home run that he hit on Sunday.

Brady Farkas

Cincinnati Reds' Elly De La Cruz Continues to Do Things to Move Up Ranks in Team History
Cincinnati Reds' Elly De La Cruz Continues to Do Things to Move Up Ranks in Team History /
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At the time of this posting, the Cincinnati Reds lead the Arizona Diamondbacks, 7-3, in the top of the ninth inning.

The Reds have been led by multi-hit efforts from TJ Friedl, Matt MClain, Spencer Steer and Christian Encarnacion-Strand, but they were also paced from out the outset by a leadoff homer from young stud Elly De La Cruz.

The first inning blast from De La Cruz off of Jose Ruiz put him in yet another good club in team history.

Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com on Twitter:

youngest Reds with leadoff HR, since 1900: 

6/13/2008 Jay Bruce: 21 y, 71 d 

7/2/2008 Jay Bruce: 21 y, 90 d 

Today Elly De La Cruz: 21 y, 193 d

It's hard to come up to the major leagues at such a young age and make an impact, but De La Cruz has done it.

One of the most "toolsy" guys in baseball, he's got great power, great speed and a great throwing arm. He's made a huge impact on the Reds since coming up at the beginning of June, hitting .273 with five homers, 17 RBI and 17 stolen bases. He's posted an OPS of .769 as well. 

He's part of a wave of young talent for the Reds that has impacted them this season including Steer, Encarnacion-Strand, Will Benson, Andrew Abbott and McLain.

If the Reds win this game, they'll move to 55-46 on the season. They are 1.5 games back in the National League Central at the time of this posting.

They'll open up a crucial series with the team they are chasing, the Milwaukee Brewers, on Monday night.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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