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Player Outlook
Elly De La Cruz took the baseball world by storm upon his arrival to the major leagues. He immediately flashed the incredible power/speed combo that made him a top prospect and hit for the cycle in just his 15th career game, helping spark the Reds to a 12-game winning streak in June. Eventually things went south for both player and team, though De La Cruz showed once again that speed doesn't slump with 18 steals in his final 50 games despite hitting just .199/.285/.361 during that stretch and falling to the bottom of the batting order. Overall, De La Cruz hit 25 homers and stole 46 bases in 136 games between Triple-A and the big leagues at the age of 21. There are swing-and-miss issues that he'll need to address and he may not reach his true potential for a while yet, but the loud tools combined with regular playing time in a band box park make it tempting to overlook his flaws. The downside potential is he ends up back in the minors after a prolonged slump.

Fantasy Stats

Year fpts
Fantasy Points
fpts/g
Fantasy Points per Game
r
Runs
hr
Home Runs
rbi
Runs Batted In
bb
Base on Balls (Walk)
sb
Stolen Bases
avg
Batting Average
2024 .000
2023 2973 67 13 44 35 35 .235
Projections Powered by
Fantasy Performance by Week
99%
Roster
94%
Start
#7
SS Rank

Fantasy News

  • Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Batting sixth in opener

    De La Cruz will start at shortstop and bat sixth in Thursday's season opener against the Nationals. De La Cruz hit second often for the Reds this spring and manager David Bell had indicated that's where he was leaning toward putting the youngster. However, the skipper ultimately settled on Will Benson in the two hole and De La Cruz lower in the batting order. It's not great news for De La Cruz's immediate fantasy prospects, but he's certainly capable of hitting his way up higher in the lineup.
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  • Reds' Elly De La Cruz: In line to bat second?

    Reds manager David Bell indicated Sunday that De La Cruz will most likely bat second to begin the season, Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. Bell noted that De La Cruz's position in the lineup is the spot he's thought about the most, and the young shortstop has hit second for much of spring training. De La Cruz mostly hit in the top half of the Reds' batting order while he was up last season, although he slid down toward the bottom some in September as his struggles mounted. The switch hitter sported just a .495 OPS with a 40.2 percent strikeout rate against left-handers last season, so it wouldn't be a surprise if he winds up hitting lower versus southpaws. Bell said that Sunday's lineup against the Guardians "could be pretty close" to the one he uses in the regular season, although worth noting is that regulars TJ Friedl and Spencer Steer both had the day off.
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  • Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Mashes first spring homer

    De La Cruz had a home run and two walks during Saturday's spring game against Colorado. De La Cruz crushed his first spring home run off Cal Quantrill's 1-1 sinker that stayed up in the zone. De La Cruz later committed an error that led to four unearned runs. In five Cactus League appearances, he's 5-for-12 with two extra-base hits, three walks, three runs and two RBI.
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  • Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Will focus on shortstop this spring

    Reds manager David Bell said Tuesday that De La Cruz will focus on playing shortstop during spring training, Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. De La Cruz was used at third base in addition to shortstop during his time with the Reds last season, but the plan is for him to settle in at short this spring and during the regular season. Also worth noting is that the switch hitter has shortened his leg kick from both sides of the plate in hopes that it will help cut down on strikeouts. De La Cruz slashed .235/.300/.410 with 13 home runs, 35 stolen bases and a 33.7 percent strikeout rate over 427 plate appearances with Cincinnati in 2023.
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  • Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Logs two steals in loss

    De La Cruz went 1-for-3 with a walk and two steals in Wednesday's 4-3 loss to the Guardians. De La Cruz, whose second-half slump prompted a drop in the order, has used his legs to make up for the shortcomings of his bat. Aside from the two home runs he hit Tuesday, the rookie has reached base safely six times and stolen six bases over the last five games. The two thefts leave him with 35 over 95 games.
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  • Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Steals two bags

    De La Cruz went 1-for-4 with a run scored and two stolen bases in Friday's 7-5 loss to Pittsburgh. The good and bad of De La Cruz was on the display Friday. He stole second and third base and eventually scored to put the Reds on top in the second inning. He gave back to the opponent later when a throwing error -- his 14th -- allowed Pittsburgh's winning run to score. De La Cruz's bat may slumber, but his legs refuse to take a break. Despite going 3-for-19 over the last seven games, the rookie has stolen five bases during that stretch. De La Cruz is up to 31 steals through 91 games.
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  • Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Riding pine Wednesday

    De La Cruz is not in Wednesday's lineup against the Twins. De La Cruz is hitting .161 with zero home runs and six steals in 17 games this month. Noelvi Marte is starting at shortstop while Christian Encarnacion-Strand mans the hot corner.
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  • Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Gets breather Friday

    De La Cruz is out of the lineup Friday against the Mets. For the second time in as many matchups with a left-handed pitcher (David Peterson), the switch-hitting De La Cruz will take a seat. Noelvi Marte will fill in at shortstop for De La Cruz, who is stuck in a 1-for-20 funk at the plate over his last seven contests.
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  • Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Steals base in win

    De La Cruz entered Wednesday's game as a pinch runner and stole a base in a 4-3 win over the Tigers. De La Cruz, who has slumped during the second half of the season, was held out of the starting lineup against lefty Eduardo Rodriguez on Wednesday. The switch hitter had snapped an 0-for-22 run against southpaws the previous day. De La Cruz ran for Christian Encarnacion-Strand in the sixth inning and stole his 27th base, then stayed in the game to play shortstop and went 0-for-1. De La Cruz is batting .181 since the All-Star break.
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  • Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Getting day off Wednesday

    De La Cruz is not in the lineup for Wednesday's game versus the Tigers. De La Cruz is sporting a .459 OPS with no home runs over his last 19 games, so it's probably not a bad time for him to recharge his battery. Noelvi Marte will play shortstop Wednesday.
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  • Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Speed helps in win

    De La Cruz went 2-for-4 with a walk, a run scored and a stolen base in Tuesday's 7-6 win over Seattle. De La Cruz scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning. Having been thrown out attempting to steal earlier in the game, the speedy and confident De La Cruz reached base on an infield single then stole second base. From there, he came in on Christian Encarnacion-Strand's walk-off single. The steal was De La Cruz's 25th in 32 attempts while in the majors. Including the minors, he's swiped 36 bags (caught 13 times).
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  • Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Bounces back in nightcap

    De La Cruz went 2-for-5 with a home run in the second game of Sunday's doubleheader against Pittsburgh. He was 0-for-4 in the matinee. De La Cruz made amends for his four-strikeout performance in the afternoon loss, crushing a 442-foot homer to tie the game in the third inning. The outfielder has four hits in 14 at-bats with a triple, a home run and four RBI since being dropped from leadoff to third in the order. The home run was his 10th in 58 games for the Reds and 22nd in 96 combined contests in the minors and majors.
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  • Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Belts eighth homer

    De La Cruz went 1-for-4 with a solo home run Thursday in a loss to the Cubs. De La Cruz smashed a 424-foot blast on the first pitch of the contest for his second leadoff homer of the campaign. Of the rookie phenom's eight long balls this season, four have come over his past 10 games. However, De La Cruz struck out twice Thursday, and he's posted a massive 42 percent strikeout rate over 18 contests since the All-Star break. Despite De La Cruz's recent slump, Reds manager David Bell intends to leave him at leadoff, per Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer. The rookie, who was moved to leadoff 15 games ago, is slashing .203/.277/.407 atop the order.
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  • Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Heads to bench Wednesday

    De La Cruz is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Cubs. The standout rookie will sit for just the third time since receiving the call to the majors in early June. Nick Senzel will enter the lineup at third base in place of De La Cruz, who heads to the bench after going 1-for-9 with six strikeouts and a walk between the first two games of the series in Chicago.
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  • Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Homers in four-hit game

    De La Cruz went 4-for-5 with a solo home run and an additional run scored in Sunday's 9-0 win over the Dodgers. De La Cruz had no trouble setting the table from the leadoff spot, and he also showed some power with his second-inning blast. Sunday's effort was already his third career four-hit game. The 21-year-old had gone 16 games without a multi-hit effort. He's now at a .277/.322/.473 slash line with seven homers, 20 RBI, 37 runs scored and 17 stolen bases through 46 contests.
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  • Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Slugs ball out of park

    De La Cruz went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run Monday in a loss to the Brewers. De La Cruz led off the contest with a shot that appeared destined to clear the center-field fence but was robbed of a homer by Joey Wiemer. The Reds' rookie slugger ensured that wouldn't happen again in the third when he belted a monstrous 456-foot two-run blast that left American Family Field entirely. It was another highlight in what has been an explosive rookie campaign for De La Cruz, who has gone deep in each of his past two games after starting Saturday's contest against Arizona on the bench amidst what had been an extended slump.
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  • Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Receives rare rest

    De La Cruz will be on the bench for Saturday's game against the Diamondbacks. De La Cruz sits for just the second time since being called up in early June. He's been stuck in a slump since the break, going 2-for-31 with 15 strikeouts and dropping his OPS from .887 to .757. The arrival of Christian Encarnacion-Strand crowds the Reds' roster, and the team is in the thick of a playoff race, so De La Cruz will need to keep performing to remain in an everyday role down the stretch.
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  • Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Bats leadoff again

    De La Cruz batted leadoff in Thursday's 5-1 win over the Giants, going 1-for-4 with a walk and a caught stealing. De La Cruz was atop the order for a fourth straight game, all coming against right-handers. TJ Friedl had served in that role previously but was dropped to second behind the dynamic rookie. De La Cruz has slumped since the All-Star break, going 2-for-28 (.071) over seven games.
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  • Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Steals spotlight again in win

    De La Cruz went 2-for-5 with two runs, an RBI and three stolen bases Saturday in an 8-5 win against Milwaukee. De La Cruz seems to find a way to dazzle on a daily basis, and Saturday was no exception. The phenom provided a highlight-reel sequence in the seventh inning when he plated the go-ahead run with a two-out single, stole second, stole third and proceeded to steal home by catching the Brewers napping. De La Cruz has notched at least one theft in four straight games, going 12-for-22 (.545 average) at the plate with a home run, four RBI, five runs and seven steals during that stretch. He's already up to 16 stolen bases on the campaign despite having played in just 29 games.
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  • Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Has bat checked

    Washington manager Davey Martinez had De La Cruz's bat checked prior to his first at-bat in Wednesday's 9-2 win over the Nationals, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. De La Cruz uses a rubber sleeve over the knob of that bat, which normally houses an electronic telemetry device used as a swing tracker in batting practice. Umpires ordered him to remove the sleeve for his first at-bat, which ended in a strikeout. The Reds received clearance from MLB for De La Cruz to use the rubber housing, sans electronics, but that was not communicated to the umpiring crew prior to the game. Once MLB cleared the use of the sleeve, De La Cruz launched a home run that traveled 455 feet in his next at-bat and added two doubles.
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