The next time Nationals Manager Dave Martinez thinks about asking for a player’s bat to get checked, he might think again.
On Wednesday night, Martinez asked the umps to check the bat of young Reds star Elly de la Cruz during his second-inning at-bat. The umps complied with the Nats manager’s request, made de le Cruz remove a totally legal tracking device from the bottom of his bat, and then, at his next at-bat, everyone got to sit back and watched as the rookie phenom slammed a 455-foot home run out of the park.
And yeah, de le Cruz made sure to let Martinez know as he pointed to the bottom of his bat after sending the ball out of the park.
In the 2nd inning, the Nats had the umpires check Elly De La Cruz’s bat to make sure it was legal
In the 5th inning he homered and told them to check it again@StoolBaseball pic.twitter.com/FhrHpwsd74
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) July 6, 2023
In his postgame comments, the greatly humbled Martinez had positive things to say about de le Cruz’s play but was no fan of the player’s “antics.”
“I love the way he plays the game, but I didn’t like his antics after he hit the home run. We can do without that. He’s only got two weeks in the big leagues. But he’s gonna be a good player,” Martinez told reporters.
In reality, de la Cruz has been with the Reds for a month, not two weeks, and what a month it has been! The division-leading Reds have gone 21-6 since de le Cruz’s call-up and is hitting .318.
Elly De La Cruz #44 of the Cincinnati Reds high fives teammates after winning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on July 04, 2023, in Washington, DC. (Jess Rapfogel/Getty Images)
So, given that the Dominican slugger has proven himself quite capable of changing the game with one swing of the bat when he’s not angry, it might be wise to leave him alone.