Sparked by De La Cruz, Reds are winning and having plenty of fun doing it
WASHINGTON — Elly De La Cruz walked by the clubhouse carrying a shirt together with his face and nickname, “La Cocoa,” on it. Sitting at his locker going through the remainder of the room, Joey Votto joked to a close-by coach that he ought to let the children play.
The youngsters are enjoying, all proper, and the Cincinnati Reds are successful because of this.
Sparked by De La Cruz, the rookie sensation whose main league debut final month coincided with Cincinnati’s season turning round, the Reds are rolling towards the All-Star break enjoying a few of the greatest baseball in fairly a while for the storied franchise. They’re atop the NL Central and on tempo to make the playoffs for simply the second time in a decade, with a crew stuffed with younger gamers who’re having loads of enjoyable alongside the best way.
“We have very good vibes going on,” De La Cruz stated by an interpreter. “It feels like everyone’s united and everyone’s just trying to help each other out.”
It’s working. The Reds are 20-6 since De La Cruz joined them on June 6.
The 6-foot-5, 200-pound dreadlocked 21-year-old from the Dominican Republic has introduced smiles within the dugout and manufacturing on the sector. Through his first 25 video games, he’s batting .308 and has pushed in 13 runs, launched three house runs, stole 10 bases and have become Cincinnati’s first participant to hit for the cycle since 1989.
“Elly’s playing great since he’s been here, and that’s helped us a lot,” stated David Bell, now in his fourth season as Reds supervisor. “We’ve definitely played well since Elly’s been here.”
It additionally helps that Votto, the 2010 NL MVP and longtime face of the franchise, returned on June 19 after lacking the earlier 10 months whereas recovering from surgical procedure to restore his left biceps and rotator cuff. Now 39, Votto is feeling the very best he has in nicely over a 12 months.
He has a tricky time containing his pleasure.
“I’ve got a dirty little secret: I actually can’t stand baseball, so every day is a nightmare for me,” Votto deadpanned earlier this week after hitting a house run to snap a 0-for-21 hunch in yet one more win.
“I’ve been having a great time. Guys are young, energized, motivated. Winning, of course, but it has a lot to do with the personalities in the clubhouse. These guys are silly and talented and getting better.”
Votto, who turns 40 in September, is by far Cincinnati’s oldest participant. De La Cruz is the youngest — considered one of 21 gamers on the 26-man roster who hadn’t been born but the final time the group gained the World Series in 1990.
Shortstop Matt McLain is 23, first-time All-Star nearer Alexis Diaz and second baseman Jonathan India are 26 and heart fielder TJ Friedl is 27. The combine has labored nicely.
“We’re just having fun together, playing the game we love, playing with heart, playing with passion — that’s our mentality,” India stated Tuesday after a 3rd consecutive victory. “We just care about winning. We have one goal in mind: to make it to the end and win the ring.”
The Reds haven’t gained a playoff sequence since 1995. Getting to and thru October is now their purpose.
“It’s really been a fun time so far,” Votto stated. “And I think the good times are actually ahead of us.”
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