Why Reds' Elly De La Cruz batted right-handed against a righty despite being a switch-hitter

Why Reds' Elly De La Cruz batted right-handed against a righty despite being a switch-hitter originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Elly De La Cruz is a switch-hitter.

But in his final at bat Tuesday night, with a right-handed pitcher on the mound, De La Cruz batted right-handed rather than get the platoon advantage.

And for good measure, Elly homered, his second of the night.

It made more sense than it sounds.

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Why did Elly De La Cruz bat right-handed against a righty?

This wasn't a normal matchup.

Instead, pitching for the Rays was infielder Ben Williamson. With Cincy routing Tampa Bay, the Rays had gone to a position player on the mound.

That changes the calculus for a hitter. With the ball coming in a lot slower, it's simply about which side feels most comfortable keeping the weight back and hitting what almost amounts to a slow-pitch softball offering.

Given that De La Cruz homered, it appears he chose right:

Elly had already went deep once in the game, too, so this was adding another for good measure.

Could he have done the same thing lefty? Maybe. But this is about comfort level. Some switch-hitters go to the unexpected side against knuckleballs, too.

De La Cruz wanted to hit from the side he felt best about hitting a slow, loopy pitch from. It worked out well for him.

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