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Elly De La Cruz rookie cards already soaring on eBay
MLB rosters give us a plethora of players who are lightning rods — standouts who make highlight clips must-see viewing every night. Aaron Judge. Ronald Acuna. Shohei Ohtani. Mike Trout. Juan Soto. Mookie Betts.
And now comes a rookie who in his first two games served notice he’s heading for that elite group. His name is Elly De La Cruz, and he’s a Cincinnati Reds phenom who got the call to the bigs on June 6.
In his first game, starting at third base and batting cleanup, De La Cruz got instant respect: L.A. Dodger hurlers seemed to pitch around him, walking him twice. He notched his first big-league hit anyway — a double. As Reds announcer John Sadak described, “In his later plate appearances, [the crowd] would go from loud chants of ‘Elly!’ to tennis-match/golf-tournament silence.” They just wanted to take in the moment.
His second game was even better. Moving over to shortstop and again batting cleanup, he blasted a tape-measure, 458-foot home run that nearly left the park. Later, he split a gap and, showing world-class speed, legged out a triple.
Yes, De La Cruz will be fun to watch. Tall, lean and lanky, he wears #44, reminding us a little of Hank Aaron. In his first MLB week, he already seems like a fixture in Cincinnati, the cornerstone in a rebuilding team that also features young stars-in-the-making Will Benson and Matt McLain along with fire-balling hurlers Hunter Greene and Alexis Diaz.
The collecting market is rarely slow on players with this much potential and fanfare. There are already 11,000 De La Cruz items listed on eBay. And they weren’t just sitting there gathering dust. Consider these realized auction prices — all paid in advance of the rook’s MLB debut:
• $9,100 on 43 bids for a 2022 Bowman Chrome autographed Gold Refractor marked #10/50 and graded PSA 10.
• $6,942 on 18 bids for a 2022 Bowman Chrome signed Blue Refractor marked #51/150 and graded BGS 10. Two other Blue Refractors brought $4,550 on 56 bids and $4,351 on 37 bids.
• $4,950 on 47 bids for a very limited (#12/25) 2022 Bowman Chrome signed Orange Shimmer Refractor graded PSA 10.
• $4,230 on 31 bids for an even more limited (#3/5) unsigned 2022 “1st Bowman” Paper Red Foil graded PSA 10.
So, you’re looking at four-figure prices for cream-of-the-crop De La Cruz items, and there’s nowhere to go but up.
If you want bargains, look for unsigned insert cards. Going for just a few dollars (for now) are such De La Cruz cards as his 2022 Panini Donruss Optic Rated Prospect, his 2022 Chrome Shades of Greatness Refractor and his 2022 Bowman’s Best Prospective Royalty card. We’re seeing signed versions of the latter sell for “just” $100 to $350. But keep in mind that De La Cruz collectibles represent a fluid slice of the marketplace.
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