On April 7, the Reds dropped the final game of a series against the New York Metropolitans, scoring just a single run in the process. It was the club’s first series loss of the season, and shortstop Elly De La Cruz went 0-4 in the game, dropping his season numbers to .242/.324/.394 with no home runs. He’d struck out 17 times in 33 at-bats, and his defense was even shakier, with four errors in his first nine games.
Predictably, a certain segment of the Reds fan base was ready to give up on Elly, demanding he be sent back to the minors. There are a few more hot takes from those heady days that have since been deleted. Because, as you probably know by now, De La Cruz has been on an absolute tear since that moment.
In last Monday’s 10-8 victory over the Brewers, he went 3-for-4 with a stolen base and four runs scored. In the fourth inning, De La Cruz scored from first base on a sacrifice bunt. One inning later, hitting left-handed, he destroyed a 3-2 sinker from Milwaukee’s J.B. Bukauskas 450 feet off the batter’s eye in center field. Then, in the seventh inning, he topped himself, legging around the bases in 14.9 seconds for an inside-the-park homer (struck while hitting from the right side of the plate). It was yet another highlight for the growing De La Cruz reel, only the first time in the Statcast era (since 2015) that a player hit a 450-foot-plus homer and an inside-the-parker in the same game.
With that performance, Elly was off and running. Over the past week, Elly’s posted a slash line of .348/.400/.913; for the season, he’s now hitting .286/.355/.607 with four homers and 10 RBI. He leads the Reds in homers and stolen bases (6) and trails only teammate Spencer Steer in OPS+ (154) and wins above replacement.
Sure, we’re still talking about a small sample size here, but this is part of the Elly De La Cruz Experience in the early days of his big league career. Some days he’s going to make mistakes, and other days he’ll be the most exciting player on Earth. His exit velocity is higher than the league average (and higher than last year’s), but he’s striking out more than would be ideal. He shot into the stratosphere for a few games, but he’s 0-for-8 in the last two games of the sweep of the ChiSox. A little good, a little bad.
Let me give you a little advice: Relax. Don’t worry about it. Elly is only 22 years old! He’s mashed baseballs at literally every single level of the minor leagues, and there’s no reason to believe he won’t do the same for the Reds eventually. He’s still young, he still rakes, and this is his first full season in the majors. He’ll struggle at times, sure, but there has never been a Reds player in my lifetime with as much talent and a higher upside than De La Cruz. Only one player I’ve seen even comes close. (More about that in a moment.) That won’t change just because he has a bad game or two. You have to give the kid time to learn and to grow.
But what about his defense, you might ask. Elly has made a few errors, no question, and a few more questionable decisions in the field. Surely fans are justified in being concerned that he isn’t going to be able to stick at shortstop, the most demanding defensive position on the field.
As with everything else, it’s way too early to draw any conclusions on that point. It’s certainly possible that Elly is destined for a position change (when he’d likely become a superb defensive centerfielder). But let me remind you of another hot-shot young Reds shortstop, a first-round draft pick who played his first (mostly) full season at age 23 and made 19 errors in 119 games. The following season, that same shortstop made 29 errors, and, if Twitter/X had existed at the time, fans would have been calling for his head.
That young player was Barry Larkin, who went on to win three Gold Glove awards and deserved to win at least three more.
I’m not predicting that Elly will have the career that Larkin had. The point is that we just don’t know yet! Just like the Reds didn’t give up on Larkin, fans need to have a little patience with De La Cruz. There will be growing pains. There will also be moments where lightning strikes and he does something that causes your jaw to drop.
Reds manager David Bell described the Elly De La Cruz Experience perfectly. “He’s way, way, way ahead of probably 99 percent of players his age that have had the experience level he has,” Bell told reporters recently. “It’s incredible what he’s doing. He’s going to be continuing to develop for years to come.”
What’s not to love about this kid? He plays with a rare enthusiasm every single day. Just watch the joy on his face after the Reds win a game and he’s celebrating with his teammates; the camera always seems to find him. Watch how much fun he’s having when he gets an extra base hit and points into the dugout. Enjoy the fact that this is a 22-year-old who worked tirelessly over the winter to learn English so that he can better communicate with his fans. Every indication is that he’s going to become a Cincinnati legend.
Recently, a national baseball writer predicted that De La Cruz is going to steal the most bases this century and become the first 30/80 (HR/SB) player in history. As I read that, my mind drifted back to Eric Davis, the greatest baseball talent I’ve ever seen in a Reds uniform. In 1986, a 24-year-old Davis hit 27 homers to go along with 80 stolen bases. The following season, he mashed 37 home runs and swiped 50 bases. I’ve never seen anything quite like it … until now.
Sit back and enjoy this ride. The Elly De La Cruz Experience may be a rollercoaster worthy of Kings Island, but I can guarantee this: It’ll be packed with thrills.
Chad Dotson helms Reds coverage at Cincinnati Magazine and hosts a long-running Reds podcast, The Riverfront. His newsletter about Cincinnati sports can be found at chaddotson.com. He’s @dotsonc on Twitter.
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