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Cincinnati Reds' Elly De La Cruz Makes Several Instances of Baseball History on Thursday

At this point, it's getting absurd what Cincinnati Reds star Elly De La Cruz is doing in 2024. On Thursday, he put together a stat line that has barely been replicated in baseball history by someone his age.

Brady Farkas

May 16, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz (44) slides.
May 16, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz (44) slides. / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
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Update, 2:32 p.m. ET: In addition the history listed below, De La Cruz did many more historic things on Thursday night...

Per @CodifyBaseball:

Last two players with 4 hits and 4 steals:
Ichiro Suzuki in 2012
Elly De La Cruz last night

And also this:

30+ stolen bases in his team's first 44 games:

Lou Brock, 1974
Tim Raines, 1981
Rickey Henderson, 1982
Rickey Henderson, 1986
Vince Coleman, 1987
Rickey Henderson, 1988
Kenny Lofton, 1996
Elly De La Cruz, 2024

Friday, 8 a.m. ET: The Cincinnati Reds, who have been reeling lately, put together a solid win on Thursday night as they beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-2, at Dodger Stadium.

The Reds, who came into this season as one of the most hyped teams in the league, are now 19-25 while the Dodgers are 29-17.

As has been the case several times this year, this game was about Elly De La Cruz for the Reds. The second-year player went 4-for-4 with a double and a whopping four stolen bases. His stat line has barely been replicated by someone his age in baseball history, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

at 22 years & 126 days, Elly De La Cruz is the 4th-youngest player since 1901 with 4+ hits & 4+ SB in a game, older than only:

10/2/1907 Ty Cobb: 20 y, 288 d
4/21/81 Tim Raines: 21 y, 217
6/4/1924 Howard Freigau: 21 y, 308 d

he’s the youngest in that span to do so going 4-for-4 or better

De La Cruz now has 30 stolen bases in just 44 games and is on pace for more than 100 stolen bases this year. It's been a great start to the year for De La Cruz, who looks much improved after from his debut season. He's hitting .277 this season and has posted an .894 OPS. His ability to hit better and make better swing decisions has obviously gotten him on base more and allowed him to do what he's doing on the basepaths.

The Reds will play the Dodgers again on Friday night with first pitch set for 10:10 p.m. ET.

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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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