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          How Elly De La Cruz and the Reds became must-watch in MLB

          Dylan Buell/Getty Images
          • Kiley McDanielJun 12, 2023, 07:00 AM ET
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            • Kiley McDaniel covers MLB prospects, the MLB Draft and more, including trades and free agency.
            • Has worked for three MLB teams.
              • Co-author of Author of 'Future Value'
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          One of the things I've grown to dislike the most in American sports is a beaten-down fanbase convincing themselves to accept low payrolls and last-place teams because of the promise of a rebuild or "The Process" as a cover for a cheap owner that would rather use marketing smoke and mirrors than provide a good product for their customer.

          The reason this works is sometimes the rebuild goes to plan and something beautiful happens, ideally with some hardware.

          The Cincinnati Reds ownership group has taunted fans through this rebuild, and all the club has to show for itself is one winning season in the past 10 years. And, yes, in 2023, the Reds are still below .500 with a 3% of making the playoffs, but let me use caps in case you're skimming the intro.

          THERE IS UNABATED JOY SPREADING IN CINCINNATI BECAUSE ITS YOUNG BASEBALL TEAM IS FUN AS HELL.

          LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT IT.

          This cup-runneth-over emotion in the ballpark basically began last week when my newly named top prospect in baseball showed up: Elly De La Cruz. If you aren't familiar, I can't give you a player comp for Mr. De La Cruz, because he's a unicorn birthed in a supernova.

          In my preseason report on De La Cruz, I gave him 70-grade scores for his raw power, speed and arm strength, and now that he's played at levels where we can measure that more accurately -- and he might have improved since then, too -- it appears all three tools are top-of-the-scale 80-grade tools. I don't think there's another baseball player on Earth that has three 80's, with Bo Jackson being the only historical example that comes to mind.

          It's hard to describe just how fun this player is to watch -- instead, let's watch a few clips and feel the corners of our mouths move northward.

          In his first big league game, De La Cruz walked in his first at-bat. In his second, he went down 0-2, got a fastball above the zone and used his (listed) 6-foot-5 frame -- I think he's a bit taller -- to deposit it in the gap.

          That double was 112 mph off the bat and if you think that seems pretty good, you're right! De La Cruz hit the hardest hit ball of the season by a Reds player ... on the first ball-in-play of his career. At least, it was the hardest -- until the next day, when he hit this:

          De La Cruz almost left the stadium at 114.8 mph off the bat and 458 feet. And, reader, he knew it:

          And those aren't even the hardest-hit balls that De La Cruz has had in the last month. He did this in one game in Triple-A last month:

          One more wrinkle: He hit two of those as a righty hitter and one from the left side. No one in the big leagues has ever done that, either.

          Also, you might have noticed from that first clip -- of his double -- that De La Cruz looks pretty quick. You're probably thinking he's quick for 6-foot-5, maybe even quick for any size. You're right!

          In his first few big league games, De La Cruz set a 2023 record for highest sprint speed on a single run at 31.9 ft/sec, fastest home-to-third run in the league this year (better clip), which is also second-best ever, and on his first big league hit he set the Reds record for fastest sprint speed of the season and one of the best home-to-second times.

          On top of all of this, De La Cruz is no defensive slouch. He's currently splitting time between third base and shortstop, but he projects as at least an average defender at shortstop, even at 6-foot-5. He threw a ball across the diamond at both 99 mph and 100 mph in the minors -- both figures would be the highest in the big leagues since StatCast has been measuring it.

          If only De La Cruz had some fun, young teammates to help him turn around the Reds, amirite? Oh wait! I haven't published a farm rankings update yet but at this precise moment, until De La Cruz and his 5-foot-8 rookie shortstop mate Matt McLain (seen below, with a fitting handshake) graduate, the Reds have the top farm system in baseball (in large part because the top prospect is worth so much).

          McLain, who was called up last month, isn't just a De La Cruz sidekick, though clearly he's great at that, too. He was 19th in my prospect ranking earlier this month. Ole Matty had his joy moment last week as well (stay for the gum bucket celly):

          Another emerging talent in the Reds system this year is lefty Andrew Abbott, whose stuff jumped a notch in the past few months, an improvement that took him from soft-tosser to dude who will slot well behind Hunter Greene in the rotation:

          Yeah, Hunter Greene! He's still sitting 98.5 mph, tops in the National League among starters. You might not know closer Alexis Diaz, but you should since he's leading the league in reliever WAR. He might look familiar as his delivery is very similar to that of his older brother Edwin:

          The top names still in the minors are 30-homer type slugger Christian Encarnacion-Strand in Triple-A; two more power righties, Lyon Richardson and Connor Phillips and shortstop Noelvi Marte are at Double-A. At both A-Ball levels are third basemen Cam Collier and Sal Stewart, shortstop Edwin Arroyo and one more power righty in Chase Petty. I have the Reds taking one more power righty with the seventh pick in my latest mock, Tennessee RHP Chase Dollander.

          These players have come from all over. I first scouted Abbott as a freshman at University of Virginia while I saw Greene as a sophomore in high school in Southern California. I've been scouting McLain since he was a junior in high school (also in SoCal), which is also true of another former first rounder, outfielder Will Benson (from Atlanta). He was acquired before the season in a low-profile trade as his prospect star has been up and down since draft day. He hit a walk-off last week in what was his first big league homer:

          Look at the emotion in this! A huge week for the Reds franchise where they've finally turned a corner, and your first big league homer to win it in a walk-off while fighting to prove you belong in the big leagues. Try to imagine that happening to you. You couldn't do better than this reaction:

          (An important side note: Young people of different backgrounds being excited on a baseball field is literally the number one thing this sport needs most.)

          Toss on top of all that the Reds haven't won 84 games since 2013 and you have the most joyful regular season week of baseball in some time. Even the King of Cincinnati showed up at the right time:

          If De La Cruz's debut is any indication, the Reds have a lot more joy coming their way.