Elly De La Cruz delivered a 105.3 mph relay throw to cut down Teoscar Hernández at the plate Tuesday at Dodger Stadium, the second-fastest outfield throw resulting in an assist since Statcast began tracking in 2015. The Cincinnati Reds lost 3-2 to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The case for De La Cruz as a player operating at a different physical tier got another data point in the bottom of the third inning. Hernández lined a ball to center field off Reds starter Nick Lodolo. Center fielder Dane Myers came in hard for a diving attempt, missed, and the ball rolled to the wall. Hernández ran, hunting an inside-the-park home run. Left fielder JJ Bleday recovered the ball and threw to De La Cruz, positioned in shallow center as the relay man. De La Cruz caught it and fired to catcher Jose Trevino, who made the tag.
The mechanism is what makes the number meaningful. A relay throw demands reception and footwork before the release, so 105.3 mph in that sequence is a more significant read-through on De La Cruz's arm than a flat-footed throw from the outfield would be. Reds manager Terry Francona put it plainly to MLB.com: "That was one of the better throws you'll ever see, I mean, ever," invoking archival footage of Dave Parker and Roberto Clemente in the same breath. Starter Nick Lodolo, per MLB.com, credited both the arm and Trevino's receiving, calling De La Cruz's throws "an absolute rocket."
The counterargument runs through the final score. De La Cruz produced both Cincinnati runs, lining an 87 mph changeup from Tarik Skubal 444 feet into the left-field seats for a two-run home run in the top of the third to tie the game 2-2. The Reds did not score again.
Only Aaron Hicks of the New York Yankees has thrown harder in the Statcast era, reaching 105.5 mph on an outfield throw in 2016. De La Cruz had no idea where his throw registered. "I thought it was like 98, 99," he told MLB.com. "It was not hard."
On balance, the throw sits where the data places it: second on a 10-year leaderboard. Across 126 games this season, De La Cruz's line reads .283, 25 home runs, 25 stolen bases, and 69 RBI. Tuesday's homer was his fourth in four straight games and his 25th of the year for the two-time All-Star.