Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Steals increase with better OBP
Rotowire
De La Cruz went 2-for-4 with a walk, a stolen base and an RBI in Saturday's 6-4 win over Colorado.
After stealing just three bags over his first 17 games, during which he had a .278 OBP, De La Cruz has unlocked his running game by getting on base more consistently. He's hit safely in 10 consecutive contests, going 13-for-40 (.325) with a .426 OBP and eight stolen bases.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Cracks three-run shot vs. Baltimore
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De La Cruz went 1-for-5 with a three-run homer in Friday's 8-3 win over the Orioles.
De La Cruz struck out in three of his five at-bats Friday, but he put the Reds on the board in the third inning when he took the first pitch he saw from Cade Povich deep to center field for a 400-foot, three-run long shot. It was De La Cruz's fourth homer of the season, and his 21 RBI are tied with Pete Alonso and Kyle Tucker for second most in the National League behind Wilmer Flores (23).
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Logs steal in loss
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De La Cruz went 1-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base and was caught stealing in Wednesday's 5-3 loss to Seattle.
De La Cruz had an eventful night on the basepaths. In the fourth inning, he walked and stole second, before he was caught leaning and picked off trying to steal third. He then reached base via a single in the eighth inning and tried stealing second base, but he was ruled out when Austin Hays, who had struck out, interfered with the catcher's ability to throw. The successful steal was the fourth in 18 games for De La Cruz, who is behind his pace for last season when he swiped 67 bags.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Launches grand slam in win
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De La Cruz went 1-for-4 with a grand slam in Saturday's 5-2 win over the Pirates.
De La Cruz put the Reds in front for good in the third inning with his two-out grand slam off Andrew Heaney on a 3-2 pitch. It's the third home run of the year for De La Cruz, his first since he homered twice against the Rangers on March 31. Overall, the shortstop is slashing .237/.286/.441 with 16 RBI, 10 runs scored and three stolen bases through his first 15 games this season.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: First multi-hit effort of April
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De La Cruz went 2-for-5 with two RBI and one run scored in Wednesday's 8-6 extra-inning loss to the Giants.
De La Cruz's highlight of the day came on a two-run double to put the Reds in front 3-0 in the third inning. Wednesday marked the first multi-hit effort of the month for the dynamic infielder, who is slashing just .250/.291/.423 with two homers and three doubles over 55 plate appearances but has already piled up 12 RBI, eight runs scored and two stolen bases in 13 outings.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Swipes bag in loss
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De La Cruz went 1-for-4 with a double and a stolen base in Wednesday's 1-0 loss to Texas.
De La Cruz doubled then stole third base in the fourth inning but was left on base. The steal was De La Cruz's second of the season. Through six games, he's batting .333 (8-for-24) and is the lone Reds regular with an average above .250.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Tweaks batting stance
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De La Cruz has tweaked his batting stance in hopes that it will help him cut down on strikeouts, Charlie Goldsmith of Charlie's Chalkboard reports.
De La Cruz has opened up his stance a bit and is standing taller at the plate, with the goal of "being more in control with his forward movement," per Reds hitting coach Chris Valaika. The switch-hitting De La Cruz led the majors with 218 strikeouts in 2024, though he sported a respectable .259 average thanks to his quality of contact, speed and .359 BABIP. He could regress a bit in the average department in 2025 if he doesn't cut down on the swings and misses, but De La Cruz can still be elite in fantasy even if his average slips because he contributes so much elsewhere.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Baserunning blunder in loss
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De La Cruz went 1-for-4 with a double in Friday's 1-0 loss to the Cubs.
De La Cruz lofted a flyball to left center that fell in between two Chicago outfielders that he tried to stretch it to a triple, but he was thrown out by Pete Crow-Armstrong. Reds interim manager Freddie Benavides told Mark Sheldon of MLB.com that it was mistake for De La Cruz to not stop at second base. "The ball was in front of him," Benavides said. "He's got to realize that [Crow-Armstrong] has got a great arm. It's something me and him talked about, we addressed. It's a mistake and he's going to learn from it." While it may have been a tactical error on the part of De La Cruz, it does not take away from his fantasy value. The 22-year-old infielder has an .815 OPS with 25 home runs, 74 RBI, a league-leading 65 steals and 104 runs scored over 158 games.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Homers, drives in four
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De La Cruz went 3-for-5 with a home run, four RBI and an additional run scored in Saturday's 7-1 win over the Pirates.
De La Cruz reached yet another milestone Saturday, becoming the youngest player in MLB history with 25 homers and 60 stolen bases in a season. He also joins Ronald Acuna and Joe Morgan as the only players with 35 doubles, 25 homers and 60 stolen bases in a season. De La Cruz tied his season high in RBI with four, with both instances coming over his last eight games.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Grand slam in win
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De La Cruz went 1-for-4 with a grand slam home run in Friday's 8-4 win over Minnesota.
De La Cruz broke open a close game in the seventh inning with the slam, his first as a major leaguer, and his 24th home run of the season. The dynamic De La Cruz has managed to make an impact this month despite batting .205 over 12 games. During that stretch, he has seven walks, five extra-base hits, eight RBI, three stolen bases and seven runs scored.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Adds two steals in win
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De La Cruz went 1-for-3 with two walks, two stolen bases and one run scored in Tuesday's 3-0 win over the Cardinals.
De La Cruz was also caught stealing once. He's actually been a little quiet on the basepaths lately, picking up three steals on five attempts over nine contests in September, though he's batting just .212 (7-33) in that same span. For the season, he leads the majors with 64 steals (on 79 attempts) while adding a .260/.344/.474 slash line, 23 home runs, 65 RBI, 96 runs scored, 33 doubles and eight triples through 144 contests.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Homers in loss
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De La Cruz went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Friday's 6-2 extra-inning loss to the Mets.
De La Cruz erased New York's early 2-0 lead with a two-run shot to center field, the shortstop's 23rd home run of the season. The blast halted a stretch of 14 games without a long ball.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Three hits, steal in win
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De La Cruz went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a stolen base, two RBI and three runs scored in Wednesday's 12-5 win over Houston.
Much of De La Cruz's production came during Cincinnati's nine-run first inning. He doubled and scored the Reds' second run, then singled home the sixth and seventh runs, and finished with his 62nd steal and scored the team's ninth run. De La Cruz has multiple hits in five of the last 11 contests, during which he's 15-for-47 (.319) with five doubles, five walks, two steals, seven RBI and 12 runs scored.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Drives in two, swipes bag
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De La Cruz went 3-for-4 with a double, two RBI, three runs and a stolen base in Saturday's 10-2 win over the Pirates.
De La Cruz filled the stat sheet once again with a pair of RBI, three runs and his 61st stolen base of the season. De La Cruz's RBI double in the sixth was his 59th extra-base hit this season, one away from making him just the 10th player since 1901 with a season of 60 extra-base hits and 60 stolen bases. The 22-year-old is in the midst of another strong week with a home run, five RBI, seven runs and two stolen bases in six games.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Goes deep twice in win
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De La Cruz went 4-for-5 with two homers, two doubles, three RBI and three runs scored in Monday's 10-3 win over the Marlins.
De La Cruz was a monster on Monday with four extra-base hits in a dominant performance. He reached 20 homers for the season, making him the third player in Reds history with 20 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. De La Cruz also joined Barry Larkin in 1995 as the only Reds players with 50 extra-base hits and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The 22-year-old is hitting .261/.347/.496 with fantastic counting stats through 110 games.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Getting Monday off
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Reds manager David Bell said that De La Cruz will be out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Cubs in what amounts to a routine maintenance day, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reports.
Per Rosecrans, Bell previously informed De La Cruz that he would receive a day off shortly before and after the All-Star break in an effort to keep him fresh down the stretch. After sitting out July 11, De La Cruz will be out of the lineup Monday for just the third time through 106 games this season. De La Cruz will get a chance to rest his feet one day after stealing a career-high-tying four bases in Sunday's loss to the Rays, bringing his total up to an MLB-leading 55 on the season.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Big day in Wednesday's win
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De La Cruz went 3-for-5 with a solo home run, two additional runs scored and two stolen bases in Wednesday's 9-4 win over Atlanta.
After singling and swiping his 50th bag of the season in the first inning, De La Cruz took Allan Winans deep in the third for his 18th long ball. The 22-year-old shortstop did commit two more errors in wet conditions, giving him 20 on the year, but that's about the only blemish on his season so far. In addition to leading the majors with 51 steals, De La Cruz has an 11-game hit streak going in which he's batting .378 (17-for-45) with five doubles, a triple and three homers.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Cracks 16th homer
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De La Cruz went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Saturday's win over the Marlins.
The Reds teed off on Edward Cabrera and the Miami bullpen for six combined homers, and De La Cruz got in on the fun with a long ball to the batter's eye in the third inning. De La Cruz has been managing a hand issue recently, but it hasn't cost him playing time -- his absence Thursday was said to be unrelated -- nor has it affected his performance. De La Cruz is a first-time All-Star and he's been a top-10 fantasy player so far this season on account of his .255/.345/.476 slash line, 16 homers, 41 RBI, 63 runs and 46 steals through 95 games.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Back in lineup Friday, Saturday
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De La Cruz is starting at shortstop and batting second Saturday against the Marlins.
De La Cruz got just his second day off this season Thursday against Colorado, though the rest day reportedly wasn't related to the hand injury he's been managing. That appears to be confirmed with his inclusion in the lineup Friday and Saturday. De La Cruz will look to extend a four-game hitting streak, during which he's gone 7-for-17 with three doubles and three stolen bases.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Doubles, steals two bases
Rotowire
De La Cruz went 2-for-3 with a double, two runs scored, an RBI, two stolen bases and a walk in Monday's win over the Rockies.
De La Cruz walked and stole second in the first inning but was also caught trying to swipe home. He last singled and scored in the fourth before knocking an RBI double during the Reds' four-run eighth inning. The star shortstop broke out of a small five-game slump that saw him go 2-for-17 entering Monday's contest. De La Cruz is now slashing .251/.344/.469 with 38 extra-base hits and 45 steals through 91 games.
