GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Elly De La Cruz wasted no time Saturday doing what he does best in the Cactus League opener at Goodyear Park.
He electrified the sun-splashed crowd of 6,569 with homers from each side in his first two plate appearances in Cincinnati’s 6-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians.
With the Reds trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the first, he golfed a Triston McKenzie hanging breaking pitch to the middle of the right-center field berm. He stood at the plate and watched, as the majestic drive traveled approximately 410 feet.
“Yeah, he got fooled on it but if you look at it, he made the adjustment, took a breaking ball in the dirt, I think, and then he hit the next one out. So it’s great for him to make that adjustment,” said Reds coach Freddie Benavides after managing the Reds split squad in Goodyear.
Elly's first AB of Spring? Gone ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/dNULIpxZRR
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) February 22, 2025
Then in the fourth, he belted the first pitch he saw from lefty L.T. Allen – a 92-mph center-cut fastball the opposite way for a 409-foot solo homer to tie the game, 2-2. The two homers landed in nearly the exact spot of the berm and showed that De La Cruz’s power stroke is in midseason
“It just looked like he’s a little bit more calm,” added Benavides. “He hit a breaking ball out of the ballpark, right? He hit the home run from both sides. So it’s always impressive for him. It’s a good start of spring.
“Well, I think he understands what he’s trying to do now. Like last year, he was just trying to (actually) the last couple years, survive and trying to (handle) things that got fast for him. I think it’s a little slower. It’s his third year, and he’s starting to figure out what it takes and what are the routines and what he’s going to do to get better, because there’s still a lot of improvement to go.”
Elly De La Cruz, again. pic.twitter.com/V20wJsgKam
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) February 22, 2025
De La Cruz also made a lunging snag of a Carlos Santana liner in the fifth. The play came one pitch after Santana challenged via ABS a called strike from Taylor Rogers. The video on the scoreboard showed the ball clearly high and the call was reversed, eliciting cheers from the Cleveland dugout. There was another Cleveland challenge in the eighth but the ball clipped the strike zone and the call was upheld.
Cincinnati’s regulars will not be making use of the challenge this spring, though minor leaguers are free to use in the final three innings, per Terry Francona.
Meanwhile, Hunter Greene has also been around long enough to know that you don’t overreact one way or the other to the results of your first spring start.
That attitude was tested right out of the chute Saturday on a spectacular sunny day at Goodyear Park as Bryan Rocchio lined a double on a first-pitch fastball to the gap in right-center for a leadoff double.
After settling down to retire the next two batters, Greene left a 98 mph fastball over the middle of the plate and Lane Thomas didn’t miss, drilling it 420 feet out of the entire park, just clearing the border wall beyond the berm in left-center. The double and homer came on first pitches.
Greene allowed two more hits in the second but no runs, finishing with a line of two innings, four hits, two runs, one walk, three strikeouts on 36 pitches – 18 in each inning.
“He was throwing strikes. They kind of just jumped on that first pitch, gave up that two-run homer to Thomas but overall, he threw strikes. Liked it, first outing,” Benavides said.
Will Banfield drilled a three-run homer to left in a four-run sixth to break a 2-2 tie. Connor Phillips threw two scoreless innings after Greene while Taylor Rogers threw a scoreless fifth.
Bryan Shaw pitched a scoreless sixth for the win.
In his first spring game at first, Christian Encarnacion-Strand looked quite comfortable, knocking down a sharp grounder to his right and tossing to Greene covering to end the second with two runners on. CES also had five putouts on the day, including an impressive snare of an Angel Martinez liner that he converted into an unassisted double play to end the fourth inning.
“He had a lot of work today,” Benavides said. “A lot of work so it was good. It was good to get him back and get him back in the in the game. He missed most of the year last year, so it’s good. (Now), keep him healthy.”
The results were as promising for the regular Reds that traveled with Terry Francona and his first Cactus League game in a Reds uniform as manager.
Santiago Espinal homered, Gavin Lux had a two-run single while Graham Ashcraft and Hunter Greene protege Chase Burns each tossed two scoreless innings as the Reds raced out to a 5-0 lead in Maryvale against Milwaukee. But the Brewers rallied from deficits of 5-0 and 7-5 to beat the Reds, 8-7, with a three-run ninth, capped by Vinny Capra’s second homer of the game, a two-run walk-off.
Lux finished with two hits in three at-bats.
