WASHINGTON – Elly De La Cruz pointed to the button on his racquet as the ball soared into the night sky.
The Cincinnati Reds electric rookie wanted to say something.
De La Cruz hit a 455-foot home run in Washington on Wednesday and then pointed to a plastic sensor cover on the end of his racquet that had been removed earlier in the game.
“Just to tell everyone that the button isn’t the reason I’m doing a good job,” De La Cruz said of the significance of the gesture. “It’s because of all the work I put out there.”
The 21-year-old De La Cruz, a key driver of Cincinnati’s rise to the top of the NL Central, had a blank sensor cover on his racquet’s button. But it was removed after Nationals manager Dave Martinez questioned its use before the infielder stepped up in the second bat.
Referees checked the button cover’s legality with the league office and told De La Cruz he could put it back on his racquet for his second shot in game three.
“It’s something we use in spring training,” De La Cruz said through a translator. “It’s just a sensor that we use, but there it’s just the plastic that covers the racquet. There is nothing else but that. I started using it in 2021. It just felt more comfortable and I asked for more of those plastic bowls from there.”
After that speak Cincinnati’s 9-2 win, crew chief Adrian Johnson said Martinez alerted the umpires to the button cover. Johnson said they checked with the league office but it took them a while to get a response.
“We had to keep playing to keep the game going,” he said. “They finally got back to us before his next attack and said the garnishment was approved.” So he played the rest of the game with the attachment on the racquet.”
After flying left in the third, De La Cruz opened the fifth with one deep drive to right center against Josiah Gray. He Then he pointed to the tip of his bat before rounding off the bases.
Martinez was critical of De La Cruz’s celebration.
“I’m not trying to punish this kid. I’m not. I love the way he plays the game,” Martinez said. “I didn’t like his antics after the home run. We can do without that. He’s only got two weeks in the big leagues but he’ll be a good player.”
It was De La Cruz’s fourth home run since his major league debut on June 6. He bats .318 (35 for 110) with 14 RBIs and 11 steals in 26 games.
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