Elly De La Cruz is a problem in Miami.
The Marlins have struggled to pitch to De La Cruz and will visit the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday in the third game of a four-game series.
In this series, Cincinnati has won both games thus far, and De La Cruz is hitting 8 for 10 with two home runs, four doubles, five RBIs, and five runs.
“Watching him every day is fun,” Reds manager David Bell remarked. “His colleagues adore him. He’s a wonderful man who keeps trying to improve.”
The 6-foot-5 shortstop De La Cruz, who possesses amazing speed and power, has also won over Marlins manager Skip Schumaker.
In fact, Padres standout Fernando Tatis Jr., who entered the majors as a shortstop, was compared to De La Cruz by Schumaker on Tuesday.
“Elly is a special player — the size, the speed, the strength, the power,” Schumaker stated. “He’s just strange. That is not visible to you. He finds the game to be slow.
“He is hitting anything we send up there, whether it is off-speed or has any life. We’ve tried a few various approaches, but we need to come up with something new to attack him. He’s still hitting, though.
The Reds have a few additional potent hitters in addition to De La Cruz. Tyler Stephenson has blasted eight home runs in his last 22 games, including a long ball on Tuesday during Cincinnati’s 8-2 victory.
With a career-high 14 home runs this season, Stephenson is a fine young catcher, according to Schumaker. The Reds have a youthful, talented lineup with a few veterans thrown in. They have quality at-bats all throughout the lineup.”They are a difficult opponent since they are well-coached and have good base running as well.”The Marlins are just 22-36 at home, good for a tie for the second-worst record in the majors.On Tuesday, however, the Reds broke their road record with a 27-27 victory.Reds left-hander Andrew Abbott (9-8, 3.41 ERA) takes against Marlins rookie right-hander Valente Bellozo (0-1, 4.20) in the pitching battle on Wednesday.2021 saw Cincinnati choose Abbott, a 25-year-old University of Virginia graduate, in the second round.He’s only ever faced the Marlins once, and it was not a good experience. On July 13, he gave up five runs on seven hits in just 3 1/3 innings, but he was able to get out of the game without giving up a hit.The Reds are 12-10 this season when Abbott begins. From June 21 to July 8, he won four straight outings and recorded a 1.88 ERA. He has a 5.40 ERA, is 0-2 since then, and has made two no-decisions.On June 26, Bellozo, a 24-year-old Mexican native, made his major league debut. In all three of his starts, he has thrown precisely five innings, and the Marlins have dropped all three contests. He hasn’t yet faced the Reds.The Marlins acquired Bellozo from the Houston Astros on April 6. In his most recent appearance, Bellozo gave up two runs on two hits, two walks, and five strikeouts in a no-decision at Atlanta on Frida. He played most of the season in Class-A baseball just last year.
GET MORE NEWS HERE
