PHOENIX – The Cincinnati Reds continue to get their money's worth on one of the last free agents they signed during the offseason.
Outfielder JJ Bleday, who was signed after being released over the winter by the Athletics, earned a spot in the Reds history books Saturday (Aug. 22) against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix, when he became the eighth Red to hit for the cycle and first since Elly De La Cruz did it in his 15th big-league game in 2023.
Bleday, who doubled, tripled and singled, in order, in his first three at-bats, led off the sixth inning with a first-pitch, line-drive over the right-field wall against former Red Zack Littell to finish his first career cycle.
Bleday, who won the National League Player of the Month award for May in his first full month in a Reds uniform, recorded the Reds' first cycle on the road since Heinie Groh in 1915 in the second game of a doubleheader at Chicago's Wrigley Field.
De La Cruz also took a cycle bid into the late innings Saturday against the Diamondbacks, hitting a double, single and home run in three of his first four at-bats.
The full list of Reds cycles:
- Long John Reilly, vs. Pittsburgh Innocents, Aug. 6,1890
- Tom Parrott, vs. New York Giants, Sept. 28, 1894
- Heinie Groh, vs. Chicago Cubs, July 5, 1915
- Harry Craft, vs. Brooklyn Dodgers, June 8,1940
- Frank Robinson, vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, May 2, 1959
- Eric Davis, vs. San Diego Padres, June 2, 1989
- Elly De La Cruz, vs. Atlanta Braves, June 23, 2023
- JJ Bleday, vs. Arizona Diamondbacks, Aug. 22, 2026
Bleday was signed in late December to a one-year, $1.4 million deal and remains under club control into next season.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Check out the Cincinnati Reds history JJ Bleday just made in Arizona
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