How did the Reds discover Elly De La Cruz?

This story was excerpted from Mark Sheldon’s Reds Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CINCINNATI -- The Reds and their scouts would love to say they knew all along that shortstop Elly De La Cruz would become a once-in-a-generation prospect and five-tool talent. They would love to brag that De La Cruz was exactly the player they were seeking to scout.

But sometimes, it just pays to be in the right place at the right time. That was the case with how the Reds and De La Cruz came together.

“He caught our attention, and we were lucky to get him," said Enmanuel Cartegena, who is now the Reds' director of Caribbean scouting.

De La Cruz, who hails from Monte Plata in the Dominican Republic, was playing at the Niche Baseball Academy in the capital city of Santo Domingo. Cartagena and fellow scout, Richard Jimenez, who was then the team's director of Latin American scouting, were headed to the academy that produced superstar Juan Soto. They were going to see a group of players, including one who was a highly regarded shortstop.

That shortstop was not De La Cruz, but someone else.

The Reds scouts spoke with Cristian "Niche" Batista, who was viewed as one of the country's top trainers of young talent.

"He said, ‘I have this kid over here.’ He was a little bit underdeveloped at that particular moment," Cartagena recalled. "He didn’t have those loud tools like some other kids had. But we saw him, and he caught our eye."

Cartegena credited Jimenez for his immediate focus on De La Cruz and for liking what he saw. One contemporary comparison with his fluid and loose style of play was current Pirates shortstop O'Neil Cruz, but De La Cruz was a notch behind.

"He locked in on him right away," Cartagena said. "We also relied a lot on Niche’s word. That’s why we went over. He was underdeveloped. Nobody saw him a lot. The ones that saw him didn’t pay much attention to him."

De La Cruz, now 21, was only around six feet tall as a 16-year-old and lacked build. Currently, he is listed at 6-foot-5, 200 pounds.

“He was a prospect for sure, but he was not really strong at a young age like the others," Batista said. "He was smooth and he made it look easy but he wasn’t physically dominating because he was really skinny. He knew the game, though, and he had lots of heart. He played a lot of baseball as a kid and was really competitive. He had the potential. His body just had to mature.”

The next day, the Reds moved to sign De La Cruz. Because they went way over the international bonus allotment the previous signing period to land Jose Barrero ($5 million), Alfredo Rodriguez ($7 million) and Vladimir Gutierrez ($4.75 million), they were penalized and could have no signings of players for over $300,000.

Good thing no one else was really after De La Cruz. Cartagena and Jimenez signed him for only $65,000 on July 2, 2018.

“Right now, everyone thinks it’s a steal," Cartagena said.

The Reds scouts ended up not signing the shortstop they were supposed to see.

De La Cruz became the organization's No. 1 prospect and the No. 4 prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline. His electric style of play and vast power has already made him a must-watch in the Major Leagues, just like it did in the Minors.

Once in the fold and playing at the Reds’ Dominican academy, Cartagena marveled at how the young De La Cruz handled himself. The organization saw a humble kid but one who was also outgoing and talented.

De La Cruz wasn't afraid to say hello to anybody at the complex -- players, staff, coaches and scouts. He got along with everybody.

"He was just a dream for how mature he was, even at that age," Cartagena said. "Even though he was smaller and weaker and didn’t have the strength of his peers, he was confident within himself. I think he kind of knew the player he was going to become."

On Tuesday, the day Cincinnati's No. 1 prospect reached the Major Leagues after his callup from Triple-A Louisville, De La Cruz appreciated the origins of his journey.

"You look back at it sometimes and think, ‘Wow, those are the opportunities that God gave me, and it got myself up here today.’ I kind of look at that and keep going too," De La Cruz said via translator Jorge Merlos.