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Elly De La Cruz is one of baseball’s most exciting stars, and on Monday, he was providing a spark in Cincinnati. The Reds shortstop took nine games in 2024 to hit his first homer of the season, but it was a big one, sending it to dead center for a 450-foot, no-doubt blast.

He didn’t wait long for his second. The next at-bat, De La Cruz hit a line drive to center field that got under the diving glove of Sal Frelick and rolled to the wall. De La Cruz put on the wheels and raced around the bases, picking up an inside-the-park homer to give him his second multi-homer game of his young career.

As if all that wasn’t enough, he also tacked on a stolen base, tallied three total hits, and scored four runs in Cincinnati’s 10-8 win against the Brewers.

As with all things De La Cruz, there was more than a fair share of excitement. There was also a bit of history. Here’s what you need to know about his big day at the plate.

MORE: De La Cruz gives lofty stolen base goal for 2024

Elly De La Cruz inside-the-park home run

De La Cruz saw a 92.2 mph fastball over the middle of the plate from lefty Bryan Hudson in the bottom of the seventh, and he did not wait to put a swing on it. He hit the ball on a line to center, and initially only appeared to be jogging to first base under the assumption Frelick would let the ball drop or make the catch.

But when Felick dove and missed the ball, De La Cruz was off to the races.

“When I see him missing that ball, I say, I go home. Doesn’t matter what happen, I go home,” De La Cruz told Bally Sports Ohio’s Jim Day after the game.

MORE: De La Cruz learns English in offseason to speak with fans

He wound up going home to home in 14.96 seconds with a sprint speed of 30.1 feet per second, per MLB’s Sarah Langs. To put that in perspective, only Cardinals outfielder Victor Scott has a higher sprint speed this season (30.3 fps), per Baseball Savant.

The home run was also historic in several ways for De La Cruz. He became the first player in MLB history to hit homers from both sides of the plate, hit one over the fence and have an inside-the-parker, score four runs in a game, and steal a base all in the same game, per OptaStats.

In the history of the Statcast era, no player has hit a home run over 450 feet and hit an inside-the-park home run in the same game, according to MLB’s Jason Bernard and Langs.

Elly De La Cruz 40 time

While MLB does not have a 40-yard dash like the NFL, there are plenty of ways to measure his speed. Last season, De La Cruz was the fastest player in baseball with an average sprint speed of 30.5 feet per second, tied with Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr., according to Baseball Savant.

Based on a speed of 30.5 feet per second, he would run a 3.93 40-yard dash. For reference, Texas’ Xavier Worthy broke the NFL Combine 40-yard dash record with a time of 4.21 seconds in 2024.

Of course, that’s hardly an exact science, as De La Cruz would likely slow up somewhat during the run. Still, it helps convey just how fast De La Cruz can fly.

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