We are now in full swing on this series and this week another repeat of sorts as once again we’re looking about Elly De La Cruz. If Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine have taught us anything it’s that everyone loves the long ball. Perhaps that wasn’t exactly the takeaway from those two guys, but long home runs have been something people have talked about for over a hundred years. Only in the last decade or so, though, have we truly been able to measure their distance with *some* accuracy. Thanks to ball tracking in the big leagues we can compare 1-to-1 how far a baseball went. Every week for the next few months we’re going to be counting down the 10 longest home runs hit by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2025 season.
On March 31st Elly De La Cruz hit the 8th longest home run of the Cincinnati Reds season as they took on the Texas Rangers.
The Video
The Metrics Behind The Blast
This home run came in the 7th inning and Elly De La Cruz had already gone 3-4 and was a triple shy of the cycle.
Distance Metrics
Distance: 465 Feet
Reds Ranks: 8th
Major League Baseball Rank: 279th (tied)
Elly De La Cruz Rank: 4
Other Metrics
Launch Angle: 29°
Exit Velocity: 110.2 MPH
Bat Speed: 81.6 MPH
Reds Exit Velocity Rank (home runs only): 10th (out of 167)
Reds Bat Speed Rank (home runs only): 2nd (of 157)
MLB Exit Velocity Rank (home runs only): 497th (out of 5544)
MLB Bat Speed Rank (home runs only): 280th (out of 5288)
The Story Behind The Blast
This game was the best one of the season for Elly De La Cruz. His home run in the 7th inning was his second of the game and it was his 4th hit of the day. He finished 4-5 with a double, two home runs, four runs scored, a steal, and he drove in seven runs.
In the bottom of the 2nd inning he hit a 418-foot home run off of Kumar Rocker as he turned a 3-0 Reds lead into a 6-0 lead. Five innings later Cincinnati was up 12-0 and Texas had Gerson Garabito on the mound. De La Cruz had doubled off of him the previous inning.
The count was evened up at 1-1. Gerson tried to get a 94 MPH fastball by De La Cruz. He came inside with it, and it caught the inside corner of the plate, but it was belt high and the Reds shortstop got around on it with ease. The ball sailed deep beyond the wall in center and slammed off of the batters eye as the home team extended their lead to 14 runs.
This was just the 4th game of the year for the Reds. It was a day of firsts for De La Cruz, though. He picked up his first double, first and second home runs of the season, and he stole his first bag of the year. And he did it all in front of a paltry crowd of 10,533 fans who braved a cold night to see Brady Singer give up one hit in seven innings and De La Cruz clobber the baseball all game long.
You can follow along the entire series here.
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