457 feet? Elly isn't buying HR estimate: 'I think it's farther'

CINCINNATI -- Not surprising after a ball leaves the stadium, Elly De La Cruz's titanic home run for the Reds remained the talk of the town on Tuesday.

During Monday's 4-1 loss to the Dodgers, De La Cruz tattooed a ninth-inning drive to right-center field that sailed through the gap between the smoke stacks and right-field seats. The ball reportedly bounced on the Great American Ball Park outer concourse and onto Mehring Way. The Statcast-projected distance of the homer was 457 feet.

De La Cruz, who has a career-high 27 homers this season, wasn't buying that measurement.

“I think that’s wrong. If the ball left the stadium, I think it’s farther than that," he said.

The longest home run on De La Cruz's resume is 467 feet. It happened at Cleveland during his rookie year, on Sept. 26, 2023. His first career homer was estimated at 458 feet, and it also came against the Dodgers, on June 7, 2023. Neither of those shots left the ballpark, however.

A five-tool player, De La Cruz has long demonstrated explosive power but said he hasn't been intentionally putting more sock on the ball.

“It just happens. You don’t try to do something," he said.

De La Cruz, 24, entered Tuesday with a 21-game on-base streak since Aug. 22 while he batted .419/.468/.767 with seven homers, 16 extra-base hits and 21 runs scored. That includes four homers against the Dodgers.

For his career against Los Angeles, De La Cruz entered with a .936 OPS and six homers. Does he bring a little extra motivation against the Dodgers?

“I don’t know. I try my best against everybody," he said. “Same mentality against everybody.”

Much of De La Cruz's recent hot stretch has happened since he departed an Aug. 30 game vs. the Cubs with a tight left quadriceps. Although he missed no time, he was used as the designated hitter for the next three games and four overall that week.

That partial rest might have helped, and manager Terry Francona gave both De La Cruz and strength and conditioning director Rob Fumagalli credit for keeping him on the field.

"I think he’s done a really good job. Fumo, they’ve been on him not just about pre [game] but post [game]. Getting on the bike, doing some recovery stuff," Francona said. "He believes in it so much.

“He’s been good about [DHing]. He knows we have his best interest. This has been a good learning experience. He said to me one day, ‘Trust me.’ And then I kind of said the same thing to him, ‘Trust me.’ He goes, ‘OK.’”

Has anything else helped De La Cruz access his power of late?

“Just working," De La Cruz said. "Finding myself, getting good pitches to hit.”