Cincinnati Reds up-and-coming rookie Elly De La Cruz ruffled a few feathers with his home run celebration after he had his bat checked at the urging of Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez. And no one's feathers were more ruffled than Martinez'.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Martinez said he didn't like the Reds rookie's “antics“, per C. Trent Rosencrans of The Athletic.
“I love the way he plays the game. I didn’t like his antics after he hit the home run. We can do without that. He’s only got two weeks in the big leagues. But he’s gonna be a good player.”
The Nationals manager said he loves the way De La Cruz, who has burst onto the scene with a .318 batting average and 11 stolen bases in his first 26 big league games, plays the game.
However, Martinez feels that there's no need for the Reds rookie's celebration. The Nationals manager, unsure of what the casing for a sensor at the bottom of De La Cruz' bat was, asked the umpires to make sure it was legal.
It was removed for an at-bat and De La Cruz went down via the strikeout. Reds manager David Bell later explained that the knob device, used to track metrics on swings, on De La Cruz' bat was approved by MLB.
But De La Cruz clearly did not forget about the bat check. Three innings later, the Reds phenom crushed a mammoth, 455-foot home run, then pointed to the knob of his bat while running towards first base.
De La Cruz explained that he pointed to his bat to make sure everyone knew that “the knob is not the reason why I am doing a good job.”
Martinez didn't like it. Chances are, De La Cruz doesn't care.
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