Elly homers from both sides of plate (859 feet) in spring debut
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GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Reds All-Star shortstop Elly De La Cruz is not easing his way into Spring Training.
That was made clear Saturday when the switch-hitting De La Cruz went 2-for-2 with a pair of solo home runs slugged from each side of the plate during the Reds¡¯ 6-3 victory over the Guardians at Goodyear Ballpark.
¡°We¡¯re ready to go," De La Cruz said. "Left side, right side, it always feels good [to homer].¡±
The Reds were trailing Cleveland, 2-0, with two outs in the bottom of the first inning when De La Cruz -- batting lefty -- drove Triston McKenzie's 2-2 pitch to the berm in right-center field for his first homer. The blast went a Statcast-projected 450 feet.
Then in the bottom of the fourth inning with one out, De La Cruz was batting right-handed when he crushed a first pitch from lefty Logan Allen and cleared the fence again, this time a projected 409 feet.
¡°I was just thinking there¡¯s no better way to start your season than to go deep from both sides of the plate,¡± Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. ¡°That was pretty impressive.¡±
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The second homer traveled to right-center field and landed in nearly the same spot as the first homer.
¡°The first one was a curveball. The second one was a fastball," De La Cruz said.
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Against McKenzie his first time up, De La Cruz was fooled on an earlier breaking ball in the at-bat.
"Yeah, he got fooled on it but if you look at it, he made the adjustment, took a breaking ball in the dirt, I think, and then he hit the next one out," said Reds bench coach Freddie Benavides, who was acting manager for the split-squad game. "So it's great for him to make that adjustment."
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Last year, De La Cruz hit two homers over 17 Spring Training games.
"Well, I think he understands what he's trying to do now," Benavides said. "Like last year, he was just trying to -- [actually] the last couple years -- survive and trying to [handle] things that got fast for him. I think it's a little slower. It's his third year, and he's starting to figure out what it takes and what are the routines and what he's going to do to get better, because there's still a lot of improvement to go."
De La Cruz, who hit 25 homers and swiped 67 bases last season, has been hitting the ball hard during this camp -- including during several live batting practice sessions.
¡°I always put in hard work in the offseason. That will come out in the [regular] season," De La Cruz said.