Cincinnati Reds star Elly De La Cruz has turned down MLB Home Run Derby invitations three straight years but says he wants to eventually participate.
ATLANTA – Watch your back, Big Dumper.
Elly De La Cruz might be coming after your Home Run Derby title.
Well, someday, anyway.
De La Cruz, the Cincinnati Reds’ two-time All-Star, has declined HomeRun Derby invitations three years in a row, but he told ESPN’s Eduardo Perez during Monday’s derby broadcast what he told the Enquirer three weeks earlier: He plans to eventually participate.
Then he added: “I can win this.”
Seattle Mariners catcher Cal “Big Dumper” Raleigh, wasn’t exactly shaking in his sanitary socks in the afterglow of his Derby victory as he rummaged through his All-Star locker for his gear before Tuesday’s All-Star game.
“Am I worried? I’ve go to make it back,” said Raleigh, whose historically powerful season has him poised for an MVP race coming out of the All-Star break. The Platinum Glove-winning catcher leads the majors with 38 home runs and 82 RBIs at the break.
De La Cruz already was working to beat Raleigh in this year’s Derby, encouraging and advising his pal Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays all the way through the finals of a spirited event.
“That guy’s an unbelievable player. He’s fun to watch,” Raleigh said of the Reds star.
And if De La Cruz comes after Raleigh’s title himself next year, “I don’t doubt he could easily win it,” the Big Dumper said.
“He’s a great player,” Raleigh said.
“Now where’d I put my cup?”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: HR Derby champ Cal Raleigh likes Elly De La Cruz chances to unseat him
Category: Baseball
