Elly De La Cruz’s first week in the major leagues has been filled with his eye-popping skills on full display.
And now bold proclamations.
From 99-mph throws from deep in the hole at shortstop to monster power and exit velocity at the plate to lightning-quick speed on the basepaths, the Cincinnati Reds’ flashy rookie has been keeping the statisticians at Statcast busy during his first five games.
That speed was front and center Saturday, when De La Cruz scored from first base on a double by third baseman Spencer Steer. De La Cruz made the trip in 11.48 seconds, according to MLB.com, and needed only 3.17 seconds to go from third to home.
“He’s the fastest human I’ve ever seen on a baseball field,” Reds teammate Jonathan India said after the game.
De La Cruz took it one step further, saying: “I am the fastest man in the world.”
De La Cruz’s average sprint speed of 30.8 feet per second is just a touch faster than that of Kansas City Royals star Bobby Witt Jr., whose time of 30.4 feet per second leads all qualifiers, according to Baseball Savant.
De La Cruz is batting .316 with a .409 on-base percentage and .632 slugging percentage after five games.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Reds’ Elly De La Cruz calls himself ‘fastest man in the world’