Elly De La Cruz's first home run ball returned by fan who caught it in exchange for VIP treatment from Reds

When Cincinnati Reds prospect Elly De La Cruz blasted his first MLB home run 458 feet away from home plate on Wednesday night, there was a good chance he would never see that ball again. Lucky for De La Cruz, one fan in the last row of Great American Ballpark had good reaction time and a sense of generosity.

In the bottom of the first inning, De La Cruz faced Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Noah Syndergaard and sent the 0-1 pitch flying well over the right field wall. The ball nearly left the stadium, but local high school senior Alex French quickly grabbed the ball after it came down in the last row.

Alex French caught Elly De La Cruz's first-ever MLB home run ball… And he has the bruise to show for it 😄⤵️Alex is a senior at Moeller HS, plays linebacker on the football team.@WCPO pic.twitter.com/ilSKzK1oRw

French did pay a physical price for the home run ball. He initially tried to catch the ball out of the air, and he showed WCPO 9 in Cincinnati the mark it left on his hand.

After the game, French got together with the Reds and agreed to give De La Cruz his first career home run ball. The official Reds Twitter account posted photos of De La Cruz posing with French and his friends, and it looks like they were all compensated with souvenirs.

First home run ball ✔️ pic.twitter.com/KnrzWABABS

It was a generous decision by French, because that ball could be worth a lot of money one day. De La Cruz is currently ranked as the No. 4 prospect in the MLB, according to MLB.com. That was just De La Cruz's second game, and he already has three hits in his first seven at-bats.