Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz’s home run in the third inning on Friday was the type of swing that only happens a few-dozen times over the course of an entire MLB season. Former Reds outfielder Aristides Aquino is the only Reds player in the Statcast era (since 2015) who has hit a homer like the one that De La Cruz crushed in the first game of the series against the Washington Nationals.
De La Cruz hit a low line drive that was 113 mph off of the bat. For a player with less power, it would have been a single to the left fielder or a double into the gap.