In Photos: Elly De La Cruz sets style standard in Philipp Plein’s black snake-print tee accessorized with iced-out chains & exclusive sunglasses

Elly De La Cruz made good on the Cincinnati Reds' belief in him, as they promoted him to the majors in June. His speed (30.5 ft/sec), as tracked by Statcast, matched that of Bobby Witts Jr., who has one of the fastest legs in majors.

Off the field, Elly De La Cruz never goes out of style. His pictures in Philipp Plein’s black snake-print tee, accessorized with iced-out chains and sunglasses, recently surfaced on Instagram.

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MLB analyst highlights glaring flaws in Elly De La Cruz's plate discipline

Despite impressing many with his speed and athleticism, Elly De La Cruz was named on John Laghezza’s overpriced hitters list for 2024. This list also included the likes of Will Smith, Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt and Nico Hoerner.

The Athletic's Laghezza feels there are "glaring flaws in his disciplinary approach (33.7% K, 35.5% Chase, 61.0% Zone-Swing)." He cited too many grounders, stating that they could lead to more sustained slumps.

In his rookie year, De La Cruz batted .235 for 13 homers, 44 RBIs and an insane 35 stolen bases.

However, Elly De La Cruz is proving the doubters wrong with his exploits in his ongoing spring training. The Dominican Republic native is averaging .400 at the plate with an OBP of .520 and an OPS of 1.220. He has hit one home run, driven in four runs and stolen three bases.

Only recently, in a game against the Colorado Rockies, De La Cruz crushed a no-doubter against Cal Quantrill's 1-1 pitch.

“You can say it’s one of my better swings that I’ve ever done," De La Cruz said via Merlos. "Hopefully there are more like that coming soon.”

“I don’t know if he hit it great, which is crazy," Reds manager David Bell said. "He looks really good at the plate.”

With a big season ahead of him, it will be exciting to see how he fares in his first full big-league season with the Reds.

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