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De La Cruz went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Tuesday's spring game against the Royals.
De La Cruz belted his first spring homer and has three extra-base hits in his two Cactus League appearances. It's a promising sign for the dynamic De La Cruz, who has enjoyed protection from Eugenio Suarez batting behind him. Suarez followed De La Cruz's blast with his own homer and is expected to bat cleanup behind De La Cruz in the regular season.
De La Cruz should benefit from Cincinnati signing free agent Eugenio Suarez, who is expected to bat cleanup behind De La Cruz, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reports.
The addition of Suarez's bat is expected to provide protection for De La Cruz, who started 148 games as the No. 3 hitter and led the team with 22 home runs in 2025. The Reds hadn't done much to address the need for power during the offseason until signing Suarez, a right-handed bat that belted 49 home runs in 2025 while with Arizona and Seattle. Despite playing in one of the league's friendlier hitting environments, Cincinnati ranked 21st in home runs and struggled offensively at times last season, and it lost two of its top offensive performers this offseason, Austin Hays and Gavin Lux.
The Reds did not give De La Cruz permission to play in the World Baseball Classic, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reports.
De La Cruz wanted to represent the Dominican Republic, but Cincy has lingering concerns about a quad injury that appeared to limit him over the second half of the 2025 season. The shortstop, who still played all 162 regular-season games, experienced a second-half dip last year after a strong first half. Reds manager Terry Francona acknowledged the need to find ways to keep De La Cruz fresh in 2026, and the trade of Gavin Lux will allow starters to rotate through DH and get breaks from playing the field, per Rosencrans.
Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Played with second-half quad strain
Rotowire
Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall revealed this week that De La Cruz played through a left quad strain from late July through the end of the season, Mark Sheldon and Manny Randhawa of MLB.com report.
It's not clear when exactly De La Cruz was first hurt, and Krall indicated the injury wasn't overly serious. However, after slashing .284/.359/.495 with 18 home runs and 25 stolen bases in the first half, De La Cruz hit only .236/.303/.363 with four homers and 12 steals in the second half, so it's reasonable to think the injury affected him to some degree. De La Cruz is expected to be fully healthy at the beginning of spring training.
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