Elly De La Cruz Hit Uncharted Waters at Kauffman Stadium With Monster Home Run

The Reds shortstop's second dinger was one to remember.
An Elly De La Cruz home run floats in the Kauffman Stadium fountain.
An Elly De La Cruz home run floats in the Kauffman Stadium fountain. / MLB/FanDuel Sports Network Kansas City

In his three years with the Cincinnati Reds, shortstop Elly De La Cruz has repeatedly wowed baseball fans with his combination of power and speed.

On Tuesday against the Kansas City Royals, the former portion of that equation was on full display.

First, in the top of the fourth inning, De La Cruz parked a 95 mph fastball 436 feet to center field. That shot tied the game 2–2—and was just an appetizer for what was to come.

Leading off the top of the sixth, De La Cruz was shown another four-seam fastball by pitcher Taylor Clarke. Making perfect contact, he deposited the ball 451 feet from home plate into Kauffman Stadium's trademark fountain.

Even the announcers calling the game were awed, declaring that they'd never seen anything like it.

De La Cruz, an All-Star and the eighth-place National League MVP finisher in 2024, is slashing .251/.325/.414 with nine home runs and 38 RBIs.


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Patrick Andres
PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .