Elly De La Cruz is having a great season. He has improved in every statistical category from his rookie year, collecting more hits, doubles, triples and home runs than he did in 2023. He has also improved his batting average, on-base and slugging percentages in a larger sample size thanks to more than 200 more plate appearances than he had as a rookie.
Of course, it's his speed that truly sets him apart as one of the most electric athletes in the sport. With a week-and-a-half remaining in the season, he leads baseball with 64 stolen bases. He's just the sixth person to steal more than 60 bases in a season in the last decade.
But that's not what makes this season truly historic.
De La Cruz also leads baseball with 203 strikeouts and counting. With 11 games remaining on the Reds schedule, he has 15 more strikeouts than the next most K'd batter in baseball, Ezequiel Tovar.
Elly De La Cruz this season:
— StatMuse Baseball (@statmusemlb) September 2, 2024
— 1st in MLB in stolen bases (61)
— 1st in MLB in strikeouts (176)
Could become the 1st player EVER to lead MLB in stolen bases AND strikeouts in a season. pic.twitter.com/YaQS3PLFSs
It's not the best historical achievement, but when you do something that has never been done in the entirety of a sports existence, it's pretty amazing. Especially when that sport has existed for over a century. And they've been keeping incredibly detailed records of stuff like this since the 1880's.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Elly De La Cruz Is About to Do Something No One Has Done in the History of Baseball.
