Shortly after the final out snapped into Joey Votto’s first baseman’s glove, he jogged toward Elly De La Cruz across the infield and flipped his hat around — mirroring the 21-year-old shortstop.

The pair reflect the past and the future of the Reds, the lone bright spot through losing season after losing season, and the young star who has turned Cincinnati into one of MLB’s most exciting teams through the halfway point.

And in a postgame interview on Bally Sports Cincinnati, Votto joked about that backwards hat and the relationship he and De La Cruz have created.

“You like my backwards hat and untucked jersey? Elly [De La Cruz] and I do this,” Votto said. “We’re young. We’re hip. This is what young and hip people do. I’ve got a Fresca sitting at home, at the hotel, and I’m going to play some PlayStation tonight until 7 in the morning with him.”

Votto was then asked, as a follow-up to his unprompted mention of the hat, if he thinks that De La Cruz knows what a Fresca is.

“If he’s young and hip, he does,” said the 39-year-old, who has spent the entirety of his 17-year career with the Reds.

Votto’s two-run homer in the fourth inning lifted the Reds to their 3-2 victory — their 17th in the last 21 games, including a 12-game winning streak at the start — and moved them into a tie with the Brewers for the NL Central lead.

It also snapped an 0-for-21 stretch for Votto, who has now logged 12 games in 2023 following shoulder and biceps surgery in August 2022.

The Reds had an 11:05 a.m. start time Tuesday against the Nationals, and De La Cruz wore red, white and blue necklaces that the broadcast said were getting handed out in the clubhouse pregame at Nationals Park.

De La Cruz has emerged as one of the favorites for the National League Rookie of the Year award despite only two months in MLB.

De La Cruz blasted his first homer 458 feet, set Cincinnati season-bests for hardest-hit balls and baserunning speed, called himself the “fastest man in the world,” and even hit for the cycle in just his 15th game.

And it has started to redefine the Reds’ trajectory, too.