Nationals Manager Dave Martinez Should Absolutely Be Upset About Elly De La Cruz's Antics

On Wednesday night, the Cincinnati Reds stomped out the last-place Washington Nationals, 9-2. In the 2nd inning, Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez asked the umpires to check Elly De La Cruz’s bat because his bat has a weird knob on the end that Martinez perceived could’ve been performance-enhancing even though it’s pretty much already been established across the league that his knob tracks his swings and doesn’t actually do anything in real-time.

Dave Martinez knew this and was trying to be a jerk. The man simply does not like Elly and more specifically, the way he celebrates his success on the field.

Here’s what Cruz did in his next plate appearance after the bat inspection:

The Nationals had the umpires check Elly De La Cruz’s bat to make sure it was legal in the 2nd inning.

In the 5th, he hit a 455-foot bomb and told them to check again 😮‍💨

(via @Reds)
pic.twitter.com/YLXflvZg9w

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) July 6, 2023

I have never seen a baseball hit harder than Elly De La Cruz did. This is why he’s quickly becoming my favorite player in the league. Need more players motivated explicitly by spite and pettiness.

Wow, he just like me.

Here’s what Dave Martinez had to say following the very public cucking:

Nationals manager Dave Martinez on Elly De La Cruz:

“I love the way he plays the game, but 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.”

(via @masnNationals) pic.twitter.com/qBwHqyzkLL

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 6, 2023

Nowadays, the easy response is to say “If Dave Martinez doesn’t like De La Cruz’s antics then his pitchers should get him out” and that is for sure true. Elly would not have had the opportunity to taunt anyone if there wasn’t a meatball grooved down the middle of the plate.

But from Davey Martinez’s perspective, of course he hates De La Cruz’s antics.

For the third season in a row, the Washington Nationals are going to finish dead last in the NL East. Martinez won the World Series in his second year with the team right after franchise cornerstone, Bryce Harper, left the team.

And from that moment forward, Washington has slowly dismantled that championship team.

They went from Juan Soto, Anthony Rendon and Brian Dozier to Lane Thomas, Jeimer Candelario and a hobbling Victor Robles. I don’t know what those last three players look like.

Dave Martinez has to coach the Bad News Bears and then all of a sudden a 6-foot-5, 21-year-old beast emerges from the mists of Cincinnati, Ohio with the sole mission of launching baseballs into outer space and you expect Martinez to be all smiles when Elly De La Cruz is tapdancing in his face? Martinez is begging for talented players and the Reds created one in a lab.

Martinez will probably be fired soon.

He will never get the opportunity to coach a player anywhere near as naturally gifted as De La Cruz.

Of course he hates seeing him have success and more specifically against the team he is about to get pink-slipped by.

It’d be different if Dave Martinez was Elly’s manager like when Tony La Russa shit on his own player, Tim Anderson, because he celebrated his homer with a bat flip or whatever. That is corny and weird and always feels racist.

Dave Martinez has to coach against De La Cruz. He’s not supposed to be praising everything he does.

Yes, Elly De La Cruz should be able to do whatever he wants especially when he’s punching baseballs into car windshields in the parking lot. No one should hit him with a pitch his next at-bat and no one should try to make some large statement about how the state of baseball is declining because players are emoting.

But also if you’re the manager of the team that just got embarrassed by De La Cruz, I think you’re allowed to say you don’t love his antics. Major League Baseball needs more beefs.