Elly De La Cruz toys with Angels in 7-1 Reds victory

He’s a superstar, folks!

Elly De La Cruz singled up the middle, stole second, swiped third, and trotted home when the throw that had no chance of nailing him at third went down the left field line.

That got the Cincinnati Reds on the board for the first time in Friday evenings 7-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. Elly later made sure they scored three more times, as he parked a three-run tater into the seats beyond the left field wall to put the gam on ice in the 8th inning.

It was yet another day with the entire tool belt of the most toolsy player in the game on full display, and that’s beginning to happen more and more often. The Reds, it would very obviously seem, have a budding superstar on their hands.

They might well have a budding ace on their hands, too, as Nick Lodolo poured in his second consecutive rock-solid start to begin his 2024 campaign. He held the Angels to a lone ER across his 6.1 IP, fanning 6 against nary a walk in the process. He pitched inside effectively to righties, down and away with filth to lefties, and - perhaps most importantly - pitched efficiently all evening. He exited having thrown only 80 pitches all night.

Funny how that happens when you throw strikes and don’t issue free passes! I digress.

Reds 7, Angels 1, and a very fun night in GABP in the books.

Tony Graphanino

[Link to FanGraphs WPA chart & box score]

Other Notes

• Tyler Stephenson walked twice and swatted a homer on the hardest-hit ball of his big league career in this one. He’s been hitting the ball hard a lot lately with little luck, and it’s nice to see him finally rewarded. Man, what a boost it would be if he’s a) back to being healthy and b) can stay back to being healthy all season.
• Elly stole a total of three bags on the night and now has ten on the season. That’s the most of any player in baseball.
• Big props to Fernando Cruz, who entered when Lodolo exited in the Top of the 7th with runners on second and third and only a lone out. He got a pair of strikeouts to end the threat, and did so with aplomb.
• Tomorrow’s game will feature Graham Ashcraft and Patrick Sandoval sharing the bump to start, with another 6:40 PM ET start on the docket.
• Tunes.