Elly De La Cruz had a message for the Washington Nationals after hitting a home run against them on Wednesday night.
De La Cruz came up to bat in the second inning for his first plate appearance of the game. Before he could get started in the box against Josiah Gray, the Nationals requested that the umpires check De La Cruz’s bat. Washington was concerned about a tracking device under the knob of the Reds shortstop’s bat.
The device below the knob was removed and De La Cruz was cleared to bat. The emerging star ultimately struck out that at-bat.
De La Cruz came up again in the third and flew out. But in the fifth, things changed. De La Cruz led off the inning with a home run to right that was estimated to travel 455 feet.
After hitting his homer, De La Cruz looked at the Nats’ dugout and pointed to the knob of his bat, as if to say “check this.”
Perhaps the youngster was offended by Washington’s move.
De La Cruz struck out in his fourth at-bat, but he later doubled and then stole third in the eighth. The 21-year-old prospect is one of three players on a young Reds team who is batting over .300 this season.
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