CINCINNATI REDS

The Hunt for (Cincinnati) Red October has a powerful new weapon in its arsenal.

Using a torpedo bat for the first time, Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz had a career night Monday against the Texas Rangers, hitting a pair of long home runs and driving in seven in a 14-3 blowout.

Both of De La Cruz’s homers were hit to deep center field, with the first landing on the turf berm and the second hitting the base of the batter’s eye. Combined, the homers totaled 854 feet. He also had a single and a double, scored four times and stole a base.

But what will undoubtedly draw the most attention in the wake of De La Cruz’s fourth multihomer game of his career is that he did it with a new style of bat that’s taken MLB by storm this season.

He said Monday was his first official game with the torpedo bat, adding: “I just want to know if it feels good and it definitely does.”

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According to Statcast, De La Cruz’s homers left the bat at speeds of 110.2 and 107.2 mph – his highest and third-highest exit velocities of the young season.

The new bats gained attention when several members of the New York Yankees used them to hit a record-tying 15 home runs in the season’s first three games.

De La Cruz said Reds teammate and former Yankees catcher Jose Trevino has used a model of the torpedo bat for over a year, and the two talked about it this past spring training. Reds hitting coach Chris Valaika also made torpedo bats available to Reds players this spring. But De La Cruz had not used one in a game until Monday night.

After De La Cruz’s power-hitting display Monday night, several players said they’re open to taking the new bats for a test drive.