CINCINNATI (AP) — The Cincinnati Reds are promoting 6-foot-5 shortstop Elly De La Cruz to make his major league debut against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Reds announced Tuesday that they were calling up the 21-year-old from Triple-A, giving one of the minor league’s most enticing talents his first big league test.
De La Cruz takes infielder/outfielder Nick Senzel’s roster spot. Senzel was placed on the 10-day injured list because of a right knee injury. Senzel was a late scratch on Monday.
Baseball America ranks De La Cruz as the sport’s third-best prospect, 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.
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, 23-year-old Hunter Greene has dominated at times and Andrew Abbott pitched six scoreless innings in his major league debut Monday against Milwaukee.
Browns players robbed at gunpoint
BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Cleveland Browns coach Kevin Stefanski expressed relief that two of his defensive players were not physically harmed while being robbed at gun point by six masked men outside a downtown night club.
According to Cleveland Police, the players had jewelry and a truck taken during the early morning stickup.
Police redacted the names of the players in a field case report. However, a person familiar with the situation identified the players as cornerback Greg Newsome II and tackle Perrion Winfrey. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
The Browns opened mandatory minicamp on Tuesday. After the workout, Stefanski said he has spoken to Chief Wayne Drummond.
“I’m glad our guys are OK,” he said. “I want all of our community to be safe. The Cleveland Police have been outstanding. We want everybody to be safe and we want to get violent people off of our streets.”
Stefanski did not reveal the players’ names.
According to the report, one of the players was returning to his truck in a parking lot at 3:30 a.m. Monday when the masked suspects jumped out of a car and robbed him of jewelry before fleeing in his vehicle. The player told police he was not injured.
Newsome, a starting cornerback drafted by the Browns in the first round in 2021 from Northwestern, posted Monday night, “It’s a cruel world we live in” on Twitter.
All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett said he spoke to both Newsome and Winfrey, offering his support.
