Photograph by Jamie Squire/Staff via Getty Images
In 2023, early in his big-league career, Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz prepared specific questions for some of the best Major League Baseball players he faced. When stars like Shohei Ohtani got to second base during innings with De La Cruz in the field, he made a point to speak with them and ask about how they built their careers.
Over the course of the 2024 season, when De La Cruz became an All-Star himself, he found the base-side conversations flipping. He was still in his early 20s, but now players were asking him for advice about base stealing, about how he’s able to play every day, and about his ability to hit for ridiculous power. De La Cruz says through interpreter and assistant athletic trainer Tomás Vera, “I get a lot of questions. They always say, You play every day, so how do you prepare yourself for the game?”
And De La Cruz is always willing to help. “I love talking with people on base,” he says. “If I know them, we start talking about something. If I don’t know them, I make sure I get to know that guy. I enjoy that. Pretty much every single Dominican, we’re friends. Even if I’ve never met them, as soon as they get to second base we’ll start talking. I have a lot of friends. Not just Dominicans. I also talk to Americans, Venezuelans, every single country. I always try to be friendly.”
In his third Major League season now, he’s getting a feel for how he’s respected around the league—though De La Cruz says he tries not to focus on that. He’s on the cover of MLB The Show, had the 13th-best-selling jersey in MLB last season, and can’t go out in public when the Reds are on the road because he draws so much attention. In May, De La Cruz, 23, became the fastest player in modern baseball history to reach 300 hits, 150 RBI, and 100 stolen bases to start a career.
At 6-foot-5 with an ever-present smile, he’s already one of the faces of MLB, but he doesn’t really care about that mantle. Hall of Famer Barry Larkin, one of his mentors, says De La Cruz’s superpower is his humility. “He realizes where he is, who he is, and the impact he has in this game, but he’s more focused on the task at hand,” says Larkin. “It’s not that he doesn’t dabble in the marketing. He has a team of people. But from what I know and from what his teammates have told me, he’s pretty focused on trying to win ball games.”
De La Cruz is a Cincinnati Red because he got lucky. When he was an undersized teenager in the Dominican Republic who loved the game but didn’t stand out, he was asked to participate in a workout that was designed to highlight a star player on his team for MLB scouts. In other words, he was invited to the workout to make the other guy look good.
The Reds ended up liking De La Cruz more than the “better” prospect they’d come to see. Cincinnati signed De La Cruz to a modest deal for an international free agent, and they were his only offer at the time. Flash forward five years, and De La Cruz had emerged out of nowhere as one of the best athletes in baseball, the face of the Reds, and a prominent representative for the game nationally and internationally.
De La Cruz’s origin story keeps him grounded. He considered quitting baseball several times before the Reds drafted him, and he doesn’t take the opportunity he has now for granted. “For the little kids out there, don’t ever give up on your dreams,” he says. “It’s not a lie that if you don’t give up it’s going to happen. If you stay with your dreams, it’s going to happen. Stay true to yourself.”
Photograph By © Sam Greene / The Enquirer / USAToday Network
De La Cruz ended up in the Reds’ organization by chance because they were the team that happened to show up to that workout in the Dominican Republic in 2018. At the time, it seemed impossible that he’d become a star. It turns out, he reflects now, that Cincinnati has been the perfect place for him to blossom.
Being a young star in Cincinnati is a lot different from being a young star in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, or Philadelphia. Former All-Star and Reds broadcaster Jeff Brantley played in San Francisco, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, and Dallas and says the Cincinnati media cycle is tamer than the media frenzy in bigger markets. “You’re allowed to play the game here,” he says. “Every young player is going to make mistakes. At least in this city we’re not berated every single day in the media. Why did you strike out? In Philadelphia or New York, it can be rough. That’s just the facts. I’ve lived it. The experience in Cincinnati is just a different way to get your feet wet, learn the game, and learn about yourself. Every young player should have that opportunity.”
When De La Cruz signed with the Reds as an international free agent, he didn’t know much about the city of Cincinnati or the Reds. Now he’s close with Larkin and former All-Star Eric Davis, senior advisors in the organization. He got to meet Pete Rose. He played with Joey Votto, who offered De La Cruz advice throughout the shortstop’s rookie season.
De La Cruz has developed an appreciation for the city and for the team. “The way the fans back you up on the baseball field, that’s been fun,” he says. “They cheer for you. I really, really appreciate the old Cincinnati teams. [Larkin and Davis] have both always been people who back me up. Not only during the season, but in the offseason as well. They always give me advice. They care about me.”
His impact on the game extends well beyond the Cincinnati region. De La Cruz was a big reason the Reds were selected to play in the August 2 MLB Speedway Classic in Bristol, Tennessee, a flagship event for the 2025 season. The league’s social media accounts post most of De La Cruz’s highlights, like his 450-foot home runs, his diving catches in foul territory, and his incredible feats on the bases. During every single batting practice, home and away, fans shout out his name in hopes of getting an autograph.
Brantley sees De La Cruz as especially popular with kids. “If you’re on the cover of the MLB video game, the kids look at you like you’re a god,” he says. “That’s how they look at him. Even when we’re on the road, the kids line up. They might be in Chicago, but they’re looking for Elly. That’s a huge draw—not just for him, but for all of Major League Baseball.”
De La Cruz takes in the attention, but he doesn’t want to be distracted by it. He’s already a key reason to watch every Reds game, but he doesn’t weigh in or speak publicly on topics like the franchise’s long-term direction or how the organization should approach the offseason or the trade deadline. He tries to lead by example and doesn’t seek opportunities to use his platform as one of baseball’s biggest stars. “I really just try to take care of myself and make sure I do everything correctly when I’m off the field,” he says. “It’s easy when you’re on the field. But when you’re off the field, you have to learn how to manage yourself.”
He’s a huge NBA fan and watches most of the Golden State Warriors’ games because he admires Steph Curry. In the NBA, one of the biggest talking points is who’s going to take over as the faces of the league when Curry and LeBron James retire.
“When Steph Curry retires, there’s going to be a hole and I don’t know who’s going to fill it,” De La Cruz says. He follows that conversation more closely than the debate about who will be the next faces of baseball behind the Ohtani, Aaron Judge, and Mookie Betts generation.
There’s a lot of chatter about what De La Cruz’s long-term future with the Reds will look like. He’ll be a free agent at the end of the 2029 season, and at that point he’ll be entering his prime career years. Executives around MLB wonder if he could pass Ohtani, Judge, and Betts to command the game’s first billion-dollar contract.
President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall recently told MLB Network Radio that the Reds made a run at a long-term contract extension with De La Cruz, but no talks are currently happening. It’s rare for a client of Scott Boras, his agent, to sign a long-term contract extension before testing free agency.
De La Cruz says he isn’t focused on where he’ll be in a few years, how good he’ll be then, or what his free agency process will look like. “I’m going to tell you something: I don’t think about the future,” he says. “I don’t keep thinking about what’s going to happen. Am I going to be this or that? I prefer today. I live in today. I live day by day. I don’t think about those things.”
He appreciates the opportunity he has now because it will never quite be like this again for De La Cruz. He grew up with his current Reds teammates as prospects in the farm system, and second baseman Matt McLain is a close friend. De La Cruz says it would be truly meaningful to win in the playoffs with this “young core” of close friends and peers in age.
He can dream big, but Larkin is impressed with De La Cruz’s ability to live in the moment. “I’ve been around some guys like Deion Sanders and Ken Griffey Jr. who have had that same kind of attention and expectation,” says Larkin. “It can be distracting to the team. My hope is that it doesn’t become a distraction. I’m sure the environment of playing in Cincinnati has helped him. But regardless of the environment, it’s more about handling everything off the field. He’s always done a nice job.”
Larkin says it’s difficult to understand and deal with public scrutiny when you’re a young ballplayer. “Depending on how well you do or don’t do on the baseball field, people will always try to say something,” he says. “People often say that your struggles on the field are related to what you’re doing off the field, which isn’t always the case.”
Like Larkin, Brantley played with a lot of big stars and is impressed with De La Cruz’s ability to live in the moment. “The one thing I’d say about Elly has nothing to do with baseball, and it’s that he’s grounded,” he says. “When you have a twin brother [Pedro] who’s almost a foot shorter than you are, that gives you some perspective to how different things could be. He has a very humble nature about him, and that’s an attractive quality. In our world today, a superstar that’s humble? There ain’t any.”
An athlete who might most closely understand what De La Cruz is experiencing as a young star in Cincinnati is Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. While De La Cruz has a signed Burrow jersey, he hasn’t gotten to know him yet. “I don’t follow football too much,” says De La Cruz. “I just recently started to follow the NFL a little bit. I don’t watch too much. My favorite sport is basketball. That’s what I’m a fan of.”
De La Cruz doesn’t know Curry either, but he closely studies the point guard and says he’s learned from him the importance of trusting your ability. Curry shoots 30- foot three-point shots in tight windows and makes plays NBA fans have never seen before. De La Cruz takes extra bases in situations when no one else would and hits mammoth homers. “Steph changed the game,” says De La Cruz. “I play different, too.”
While De La Cruz has some of the loudest tools in baseball, he doesn’t chase statistical milestones like 40 homers or 70 steals in a season like he did when he was younger. Under new Reds manager Terry Francona, he’s focusing more on finer details like working consistent at-bats, being more of a heads-up base runner, and making the routine plays on defense. His biggest numerical goal entering 2025 was to play all 162 games, and as of press time he’s played in every game this season so far.
De La Cruz says his maturity is the skill he’s improved the most during his two-plus years in the big leagues. “The way I’m thinking and my body preparation pregame,” he says. “I’ve learned a lot about how to get ready for a game.”
He’s added more strength training and stretching into his daily routine, built up more endurance, and toned his soft tissue muscles to try to avoid nagging injuries. De La Cruz says he was “exhausted” by the end of his rookie season, but the process he’s developed in the past two years has helped him be more consistent.
Consistency is one of the big lessons he’s learned in the majors, as well as backing up his talent with work ethic and attention to detail. Larkin has been impressed with De La Cruz’s growth in these areas. “Any success we have as a professional, as a husband, or as a man is in preparation and how you react to anything that’s going to happen,” says Larkin. “The beauty of being a mature person is that you’re not as reactionary. We do react, but there’s a proactiveness in preparing for what’s to come. You understand celebrity. You understand the scrutiny. You just have to keep it in perspective and keep your feet on the ground.”
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De La Cruz credits his ability to stay grounded to lessons his parents instilled in him. When asked what advice he’d give to young players, he says, “Be kind to your mom and dad. They always want the best for you.”
De La Cruz wears a pendant with a photo of him and his mother, Carmin, smiling on the day he signed with the Reds. Before he was on the map as a Reds prospect, he says his career goals included becoming a Hall of Famer and making his family, which includes eight siblings, proud. He’s recently been grieving the loss of his sister, Genelis De La Cruz Sanchez, who died in June.
When De La Cruz was 6 years old, he told his mother, I’m going to be a baseball player. I’m going to be a baseball player. I’m going to be a baseball player. He’d say, If you spend any money on clothes, it better be a baseball jersey.
It took a lot of sacrifice for De La Cruz to get to where he is now. He moved away from home as a child to live with his coach’s brother. He moved farther away at age 10 so he could play in more prominent leagues in the Dominican Republic. His mother motivated him to keep going when he was on the verge of quitting during his teenage years because MLB scouts weren’t interested.
After everything he went through to get here, De La Cruz doesn’t want to become distracted. His past keeps him grounded and gives him an appreciation for what he’s accomplished. The Reds gave him a chance to play professional baseball, and today he’s one of the sport’s most talented and popular players.
Instead of chasing superstar status, though, De La Cruz is working to keep his focus on baseball and on the present in Cincinnati. “That’s the way I like it,” he says.
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