Elly De La Cruz is Awesome, LOL Mets, A's Stadium Snag, Superstar Injuries, More
Just for the sake of full disclosure, any Elly De La Cruz love in this post has absolutely nothing to do with the +1600 Reds NL Central future I placed this week…
Elly De La Cruz Is AWESOME
Earlier this week the Reds called up super-prospect Elly De La Cruz. He got thrown into the fire right away with three games against the Dodgers. De La Cruz did not disappoint. The infielder went 4-for-11 in the trio of games, including this absolute BOMB of a home run
Elly De La Cruz crushes a ball for his first career home runpic.twitter.com/u98xjcFadj — BETSPERTS (@betsperts) June 7, 2023
Elly De La Cruz casually goes 458 feet for his first MLB career home run… pic.twitter.com/diImkK58YP — Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) June 7, 2023
His first big league home run almost completely left the Great American Ballpark! But that’s not the only impressive note from the top prospect’s first dinger. At 114.8 MPH, De La Cruz’s home run was the hardest-hit ball by any Red this season! He didn’t stop there though. In that same game, he also had the second hardest-hit ball (112.0 MPH) and 19th hardest-hit ball (108.7 MPH)!
De La Cruz’s milestone-setting night didn’t stop there, though. He also ripped a triple where he got from home to third in ELEVEN SECONDS! That’s the fastest home-to-third time in the Major Leagues this season.
Elly De La Cruz can do it all. There will certainly be an adjustment period this season, but he looks like he’s here to stay (and the Reds might be too). I’m sure he’ll be a bit of a thorn in the side of Cubs fans going forward, but he’s the definition of baseball is fun.
LOL Mets
I’m sorry if we have any Mets fans that read this blog, though I highly doubt there are any. The way they all three games to the Braves this last season was GUT WRENCHING. Like, I don’t know how they come back from it. Things started out great for them in the opener of their road series in Atlanta. In the 3rd inning of that game, Pete Alonso blasted a 448-foot home run giving the Mets a 4-1 lead. Alonso then did a little jawing from the dugout to “throw it again” to Braves pitcher Bryce Elder. Honestly, I didn’t hate it and actually kind of liked it from Polar Pete. Showing some passion and fire in a big moment that the Mets had lacked all season.
Here's Pete Alonso yelling out to Bryce Elder: pic.twitter.com/AoUfQvTm5w — Bally Sports South (@BallySportsSO) June 7, 2023
Well, Pete, they did throw it again. Alonso went hitless for the rest of the game. The Braves stormed back to win 6-4. And that was only the beginning for the Mets. The Mets jumped out to leads in the next two games, hit the ball relatively well, and blew late leads to lose both matchups for the three-game sweep. It’s almost impossible to believe how they lost all three given the win probabilities.
this mets-braves series oh my pic.twitter.com/vvgJIjChGD — Codify (@CodifyBaseball) June 9, 2023
To make things even more deflating, in the finale, the Mets blew a 10-9 lead. With one out in the 9th, Oswaldo Arcia blasted a game-tying home run. Then in the top of the 10th, the Mets went down 1-2-3 stranding the runner on second to start extra innings. At that point, it was only a matter of how they’d lose. And they lost in an even more deflating fashion.
Ozzie Albies sent a no-doubt three-run home run over the wall for the walk-off win dropping the Mets to 30-33 and 8.5 games back in the NL East.
Would you believe me if I said it got even worse from there? Well, it kind of did. Check out what manager Buck Showalter had to say about the three consecutive gut-wrenching losses:
Buck Showalter talks about keeping the right mindset after a sweep by the Braves:
"I'm proud of them. I look at it as positives other than we just couldn't get outs. Used every arrow we had" pic.twitter.com/4S5VQQw6SL — SNY (@SNYtv) June 9, 2023
Listen, I get the idea of not trying to pile on or make things worse. But to say you’re PROUD of the team THREE TIMES in one minute after they blew three consecutive multi-run leads on the road against their biggest rival, who’s really owned them the last few years is a WILD idea. And honestly, given the mindset of New Yorkers as people and sports fans, you know that won’t come off well. I doubt Steve Cohen was sitting in his office watching those games thinking “Hey, I’m spending $364 million on a 30-33 team. They’re losing games, but I’m proud because they’re coming close and just can’t finish!” If I were Buck, I might have taken a page out of Pedro Martinez’s playbook.
As a Sox fan, I’d say I know just about exactly what they’re going through. Actually, no. Mets fans might have it worse. Similar to the Sox last year, the Mets entered this season with massive expectations. The Edwin Diaz injury in the WBC hurts, but the roster was still strong. But they’ve flopped big time. The hitting has been streaky. The pitching has been inconsistent. Bullpen issues have plagued them all year. And they have a manager that seems a little out of touch with the team. Seems wildly similar to last season’s Sox team, only their owner actually went out and spent a ton of money this offseason. And it STILL is failing. I’m so sorry, Mets fans. From one miserable baseball fan to another, I’m here if you need to talk, or just want to vent.
A’s Vegas Stadium Talks Hit A Snag
The A’s new stadium has his a stall as the Nevada state legislature adjourned a four-month session without holding a vote. That means the relocation processes and construction schedule for a future stadium on the Las Vegas Strip has been delayed. Just recently, the team finalized an arrangement with the Bally’s Corporation to develop a prospective 30,000-seat ballpark. However, the completion of this $1.5 billion project hinges on the availability of public funds. The Nevada legislature has a four-month session every other year. There is hope that the funding could be considered during a special session before 2025, but if the voting is delayed until 2025 then that throws a wrench in the moving process from Oakland.
Nevada state sen. Ira Hansen: "I have this sensation that they’re abandoning a community that they undoubtedly made similar commitments to in the past … I’m looking at the track record of the Oakland A’s and Mr. Fisher." — Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) June 7, 2023
Odds & Ends
A pair of stars hit the IL this week. The Yankees placed Aaron Judge on the with a toe injury. Judge hurt the toe crashing into the gate at Dodger Stadium. The injury puts a hold on what’s been a great season for Judge, but he won’t be out long. On the other hand, Jacob DeGrom will be out for a long time. Unfortunately, he needs Tommy John surgery and will be out possibly through next season. It’s been a brutal few years of injury luck for DeGrom.
AARON JUDGE, WHAT A GRAB! pic.twitter.com/snlOXLbt4f — FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 4, 2023
It seems like there’s been quite a bit of Red Sox/Yankees rivalry fatigue in the last few years. It appears that sentiment might be seeping into the clubhouses as well. Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes said this week that the rivalry with the Red Sox hasn’t held the same juice as their matchups with the Rays and Blue Jays as of late. The Red Sox and Yankees have a three-game series this weekend.
Nestor Cortes had this to say about the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry 👀 pic.twitter.com/2WgBNvAkFo — FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 8, 2023
The MLB will hold the “HBCU Swingman Classic” on Friday, July 7th during MLB All-Star week. The event will highlight the history of HBCU baseball while offering 50 HBCU baseball players a showcase opportunity. Ken Griffey Jr led a committee to choose the 50 players that will participate. This year’s All-Star Game is in Seattle. The roster unveil is tonight on the MLB Network.
Source: bleachernation.com
