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Reds Phenom Elly De La Cruz's Latest Homer Landed Where Most Players Can't Reach

Tom Dierberger

Elly De La Cruz notches a hit during the Reds' series opener against the Pirates.
Elly De La Cruz notches a hit during the Reds' series opener against the Pirates. / Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY
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Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz hit a ball where few players can during the team's series opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night.

In the sixth inning at Great American Ball Park, De La Cruz smoked a 1–0 cutter from Pirates right-hander Daulton Jeffries. It easily cleared the wall in center field and landed atop the TriHealth Riverboat Deck above the batter's eye.

De La Cruz stood in the batter's box for an extra second to properly admire his latest bomb.

Statcast measured De La Cruz's exit velocity at 111.5 mph. It had a launch angle of 33 degrees and traveled 439 feet through the air before landing on top of the boat.

It was De La Cruz's 14th homer of the 2024 season, setting a new career high for the 22-year-old phenom. De La Cruz came into Monday's game batting .243/.338/.447 while leading MLB in stolen bases (37).

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Tom Dierberger
TOM DIERBERGER

Tom Dierberger is a staff writer and editor on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in November 2023 after stints at FOX Sports, Bally Sports and NBC Sports. Dierberger has a bachelor's in communication from St. John's University. In his spare time, he can be seen throwing out his arm while playing fetch with his dog, Walter B. Boy.

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