SEATTLE — San Diego Padres superstar Juan Soto has known Elly De La Cruz since before the Cincinnati Reds rookie became an overnight baseball phenomenon last month.
When the Padres recently were in Cincinnati for a series, Soto took the hottest young player in the game out to dinner and offered a few insights on big-league life and what happens when you arrive as big, as fast and as spectacularly as De La Cruz did this summer — and as Soto did five summers earlier.
In De La Cruz’s case, it’s about what comes next after his 30-game burst into baseball’s consciousness.