It was beautiful. Everything came together. Every Cincinnati Reds batter got a hit. Reds batters hit 6 XBHs. Will Benson, Elly De La Cruz, and Jeimer Candelario all topped 100 MPH exit velocity. The Reds set season highs in runs and hits and 7 batters had an RBI.
The Reds endured a rough May going 9-18 on the month. Since the Reds were 14-10 to start the season, they have gone 13-23. Our talisman, Elly De La Cruz, has gone .182 in that time frame. It’s no secret that De La Cruz and Spencer Steer drove the team’s early success. Things are turning around.
Personally, my eyes were drawn to the 109.7 MPH exit velo on Elly’s first at bat even though he was out. He hasn’t been hitting the ball that hard for a month. His very next at bat, he blasted a 100.4 MPH rocket for an RBI double to left-center. As we noted on X (Twitter?), this snapped a 0-16 slide. In the postgame, Elly noted that he has not made an adjustment to his swing through his struggle the last month.
Jeimer Candelario followed up Elly’s double with a 2 run HR to right field that went 423 ft. Candy started the year very slow. We all doubted him and hated the move. He has been HOT going .310 over his last 7 and .278 over his last 30. That’s some consistency. It also speaks to how bad his start was that his average is still only .233.
Will Benson finally got over .200 recently. He sealed this one with his 2 run triple to right field making the game 6-3. And he lost his helmet again. Benson also added another RBI with a sac fly to left field in the 6th inning. He ended the game 2-3 with 3 RBIs.
Spencer Steer added two more runs in the 6th with a 2 run single. Much like Elly, he started the season off hot, but has batted .176 since the beginning of May. Steer never stopped hitting the ball hard, and didn’t strike out near as often as Elly. The Cincinnati Reds need both of those guys to stay in this form. In his last 7 games, Steer is slashing .321/.367/.357.
This month, the Cincinnati Reds have series against every National League Central division rival. They also have series agains the Guardians and the Red Sox. June will determine the season. If they can come out near or on the better side of .500, its alive.
