Earlier this week, Cincinnati Reds rookie outfielder Rece Hinds made Major League Baseball history by recording five extra-base hits in his first two big-league games. Hinds became the first player in recorded history to accomplish such a feat. On Friday night, he added to his triumphant first week in The Show, hitting his first MLB grand slam as part of an offensive onslaught against the Miami Marlins (GameTracker).
Take a look:
"The rookie continues to rake!"
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 13, 2024
Rece Hinds tees off on first big league grand slam for the @Reds 🚀 pic.twitter.com/zWZS5OaZyS
Hinds' blast came in the bottom of the third inning against Marlins starter Yonny Chirinos. According to Statcast, his home run had a 105 mph exit velocity and carried 397 feet. It would've been a home run in 16 of 30 MLB ballparks; of course, what matters more is that it was a home run in the ballpark he happened to be playing in that night.
Hinds, 23, was a second-round pick in 2019. In 77 Triple-A games before his promotion, he hit .216/.290/.409 with 13 home runs and 12 stolen bases. He came into play on Friday having notched six extra-base hits as part of an 8-for-16 start to his MLB stay.
Rece Hinds’ 7 extra-base hits are tied for the most by a player in his first 5 career games (since at least 1901), with:
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) July 13, 2024
2018 Rowdy Tellez
2014 Jorge Soler
2012 Will Middlebrooks
2008 Chris Dickerson https://t.co/LrUJsZ4dKg
Here's part of what CBS Sports wrote about Hinds earlier this week:
Hinds, predictably, has big-time power. He's twice posted exit velocities above 115 mph this season, including a 116 mph line drive in May that put him in the same range as Bobby Witt Jr., Yordan Alvarez, and Fernando Tatis Jr. Hinds hasn't ranked higher on prospect lists (Baseball America had him placed 24th in the Reds system ahead of his debut) because of his extreme strikeout tendencies. He K'd in more than 38% of his plate appearances in Triple-A, and even including his MLB run, he's whiffed on more than 40% of his swings. Teams are more accepting of strikeouts than ever before, but those are untenable rates.
The Reds entered play on Friday three games back in the National League wild-card race.