Cincinnati Reds' Batting Practice Showdown Has Unintended Consequences

As it turned out, De La Cruz fouled the first pitch of his at-bat into the players' parking lot. The ball hit a luxury SUV, breaking its back-left window.

That car belonged to Greene.

As recounted by FOX19's Jeremy Rauch, Greene yelled to De La Cruz that the young slugger would be paying to fix the damage once he found out what had happened.

According to CLNS Media's Mike Petraglia, however, De La Cruz fired back a retort by noting that Greene made more money than he did.

Greene, 24, signed a six-year, $53 million contract with the Reds that kicked in last season. Most of that money kicks in later, though, as he will only make $3.3 million in 2024.

De La Cruz, on the other hand, is still in the pre-arbitration stage of his career, and Cincinnati hasn't given the infielder an early extension like the one they gave Greene. As a result, De La Cruz is projected to make roughly $770K this season.

The 22-year-old shortstop made his MLB debut in 2023, bursting onto the scene with his trademark power, speed and strong arm. De La Cruz suffered through a few slumps down the stretch, though, and he finished the year batting .235 with a .710 OPS and 0.8 WAR in 98 games.

De La Cruz still managed to finish seventh in NL Rookie of the Year voting, thanks in large part to his 13 home runs, 44 RBI, 35 stolen bases and flashy highlight reel.

Greene, who has battled through injuries in each of the past two years, is 9-20 with a 4.62 ERA, 1.309 WHIP, 12.0 strikeouts per nine innings and a 3.1 WAR through 46 big league starts.

Both De La Cruz and Greene figure to hold down key roles for a young Reds team entering 2024. They were unable to lift Cincinnati to the playoffs last fall, as the club went 23-31 after July 31, but they could help get them to the finish line with another full year of experience under their belts.