Reds' Elly De La Cruz Ran Around Bases in Eye-Popping Time During Inside-the-Park Home Run

Tim Capurso | Apr 9, 2024

Apr 8, 2024; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz (44) races around the bases for an inside-the-park home run. / Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports

Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz had one of the best games of his young career during Monday night's 10-8 win over the Milwaukee Brewers at Great American Ballpark, as he belted a pair of home runs, including a rare, inside-the-park homer in the seventh inning.

While De La Cruz's mammoth, 450-foot home run in the fifth inning was impressive in its own right, his inside-the-park dinger may have been even more so, given the speed with which he ran around the basepaths.

The Reds' electrifying young shortstop sprinted around the bases in just 14.96 seconds, according to the team's account on X, formerly Twitter.

Elly De La Cruz just went home-to-home in 14.96 SECONDS! pic.twitter.com/pTgIYsbPgj

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) April 9, 2024

Considering that De La Cruz ranks fourth in MLB in Statcast's sprint speed metric, it's not entirely surprising that he sped around the bases in under 15 seconds.

The inside-the-park home run was part of a 3-for-4 day for De La Cruz, who has recorded a hit in all but one of the 10 games he's played in thus far in the 2024 season.

The Dominican Republic native seems to be picking up right where he left off last year, where he flashed his five-tool talent after being called up to the big leagues in June.