Even Elly had to make sure Ohtani was real

Elly De La Cruz pokes Shohei Ohtani at second base

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6:39 AM UTC

Two of the most exciting baseball players on the planet squared off against each other twice on Wednesday in Anaheim as the Angels hosted the Reds for a doubleheader.

Shohei Ohtani, the Halos’ two-way megastar and the most popular player in the game, was on one side. Elly De La Cruz, the Reds’ rookie phenom at shortstop — a five-tool player whose tools have tools — was on the other.

In Game 2, the two had the opportunity to meet at second base after an Ohtani double in the fifth inning. De La Cruz walked over and touched Ohtani on the arm as if to say, as Angels television color commentator Mark Gubicza surmised, “Are you real?”

As it turns out, Gubicza was correct.

“I talked to [Matt] McLain before we went out there,” De La Cruz said through an interpreter. “I told him, ‘Hey, I’m going to touch him to see if he’s real.’”

It’s a good question. But the same could be asked about De La Cruz, the 21-year-old sensation who already has 11 homers and 21 steals in his first 66 career games.

That’s what it’s all about: the best of the best facing each other on the diamond while demonstrating their mutual admiration for one another. Ohtani and De La Cruz gave us a textbook example of “game recognizing game.”