How Fast Is Cincinnati Reds’ Star Elly De La Cruz?
Star Cincinnati Reds prospect Elly De La Cruz broke onto the baseball scene on June 6, 2023, and immediately brought no shortage of confidence with him.
As the top prospect in the Reds organization, De La Cruz declared himself the “fastest man in the world” following one of his first MLB games in June 2023.
What sparked the conversation? De La Cruz scored from first base in just 11.17 seconds, per MLB.com. Later in June, he recorded an impressive infield hit on a ground ball to first base.
But, can the Rookie of the Year award candidate—the Reds infielder opened at +650 betting odds to win the National League award at BetMGM Sportsbook—actually make that claim?
Let’s take a closer look at how fast De La Cruz runs.
Far From The World’s Fastest
There’s no denying the fact De La Cruz is exceptionally speedy.
According to Baseball Savant, De La Cruz ranked in the 99th percentile in terms of sprint speed and the 96th percentile in max exit velocity in the wake of his MLB debut.
Regarding a quantifiable number, the Reds rookie averaged a sprint rate of slightly more than 30 feet per second. Even in the MLB, that’s not the fastest in the entire league.
Per Baseball Savant, Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals and Bubba Thompson of the Texas Rangers led Major League Baseball with an average sprint speed of 30.4 feet per second.
Closely behind them was Trea Turner of the Philadelphia Phillies. Turner’s average sprint speed came in at 30.3 feet per second.
De La Cruz’s primary competition for National League Rookie of the Year, Corbin Carroll of the Arizona Diamondbacks, averaged a higher sprint speed at 30.2 feet per second.
Given those placements, De La Cruz was fifth in Major League Baseball in average sprint speed through his first handful of games. However, De La Cruz should have his average inch up over time. He was clocked as fast as 31.9 feet per second in June 2023, according to FOX19 Now in Cincinnati.
Even if you assume the phenom becomes the league’s fastest by the end of 2023, he still has a lot of ground to make up on the world’s top sprinters.
In 2022, Noah Lyles, one of the fastest sprinters in the world, completed the 200-meter dash in 19.31 seconds, good for the American record.
In terms of a measured rate, that comes out to 33.98 feet per second. Lyles sprints for a living.
How Tall Is Elly De La Cruz?
De La Cruz is 6 foot, 5 inches tall and has a body type that might remind track and field fans of one legendary sprinter from Jamaica.
De La Cruz stands the same height as world-renowned sprinter Usain Bolt, who has the world record for the 200m and 100m.
During the 2009 IAAF World Championships, Bolt ran the half-lap race in an astonishing 19.19 seconds. It’s a world record that the aforementioned Lyles wants.
At that rate, Bolt completed the run in 34.19 feet per second, covering more than two feet in additional ground each second than De La Cruz at his maximum speed.
That might not sound like a lot, but the difference becomes more apparent in miles per hour, where Bolt has the world record for top speed.
During his career, Bolt was clocked at roughly 27.5 miles per hour. That occurred during his world record of 9.58 in the 100m dash.
De La Cruz reached 21.75 mph early in his 2023 season, per FOX19 Now in Cincinnati.
Even though De La Cruz is remarkably quick—unquestionably more so than the average baseball player—his claim he’s the world’s fastest man is false.
Still, his running abilities will continue to develop and perhaps make him one of the league’s best base stealers. Through his first 13 games, De La Cruz stole six bases and wasn’t caught stealing a single time. Could he eventually challenge the single-season stolen base record?
