Elly De La Cruz and Oneil Cruz are two of Major League Baseball's most exciting young stars. They are also two of the very tallest with the Pirates' Cruz standing 6'7" and Reds superstar De La Cruz clocking in at 6'5". Fate brought the two together on Thursday night at PNC Park where they were joined in hanging out at second base by Cincinnati infielder Matt McLain, who is a full eight inches shorter than either of them.
It created a bit of a sight gag and the opportunity for an amusing photo was seized upon.
Elly and Oneil were messing with Matt McLain about his height 😅
— MLB (@MLB) August 7, 2025
Oneil Cruz: 6’7”
Elly De La Cruz: 6’5”
Matt McLain: 5’9” pic.twitter.com/FQJfjpfcuq
The official X account of Major League Baseball said the guys were being dudes.
Guys being dudes 🤣
— MLB (@MLB) August 8, 2025
(📸 @Pirates) https://t.co/0c9ki39qfh pic.twitter.com/FJMPK8ZAbb
Tall baseball players standing in the general vicinity of shorter players has become a reliable source of online amusement over the last decade. Every single time Jose Altuve and Aaron Judge have been in the same frame has been dutifully documented and preserved for future generations to study. It's very rare, though, to have two guys with the length required to be an NBA wing available to bookend a significantly smaller player in the middle.
Credit to all involved for realizing what was going on and what needed to be done.
More MLB on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as MLB's Tallest Young Stars Took a Photo Next to Much Shorter Infielder.
