Top shortstop prospect Elly De La Cruz will make his MLB debut for Reds against the LA Dodgers

The Cincinnati Reds are promoting six-foot-five shortstop Elly De La Cruz, recently ranked as one of MLB’s top prospects, to make his major league debut against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Reds announced on Tuesday that they were calling up the 21-year-old from their Triple-A team, the Louisville Bats, to give one of the minor league’s most enticing talents his first big league test.

In footage released by the Reds on Twitter, De La Cruz can be seen talking to Bats manager Pat Kelly at a hotel lobby, where’s he told that his bags are ready to make the trip back to Cincinnati, while being surrounded by teammates.

De La Cruz is expected to take infielder/outfielder Nick Senzel’s roster spot. 

Senzel was placed on the 10-day injured list because of a right knee injury and was a late scratch on Monday.

Elly De La Cruz, who’s hitting .298 with 12 home runs in Triple A, has been called up by the Reds

Baseball America ranks De La Cruz as the sport’s third-best prospect, while ESPN designates him in top spot, according to May’s updating rankings, citing a tantalizing power-speed combination. 

He is hitting .298 with 12 home runs, 11 stolen bases and a 1.031 OPS with Triple-A Louisville this season.

Signed out of the Dominican Republic as a teenager, De La Cruz hit 28 homers and stole 47 bases across Class A and Double-A last year. 

What’s more is that he’s connected for the hardest-hit ball in all professional baseball leagues this year, with an exit velocity of 118.8 mph recorded by Statcast. De La Cruz also hit two other ball over 116 mph in that same game. No major league team has ever had three in a game. 

Most recently, on June 4, De La Cruz ripped a double at 117.3 mph.

In spring, the Reds assigned No. 44 to De La Cruz, previously worn by the great Eric Davis 

The only other batters to break 116 multiple times this season are: Giancarlo Stanton (4), Jake Burger, Jo Adell and Ronald Acuña Jr. (2). 

In early, May, De La Cruz threw a 99.2 mph throw to first base from third – the hardest recorded throw at the time in Triple-A or the Major Leagues. 

At spring training, the Reds assigned No. 44 to De La Cruz, which was previously worn by ballclub great and prospect mentor Eric Davis. 

The Reds have surprisingly remained around the periphery of the NL wild-card race this season thanks to big contributions from young players. 

Rookie Matt McLain has hit .329 while filling in at shortstop, and 23-year-old Hunter Greene has dominated at times too. Andrew Abbott pitched six scoreless innings in his major league debut Monday against Milwaukee.