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.
Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Swipes bag, extends hit streak
Rotowire
De La Cruz went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a stolen base in a 4-1 win over Atlanta on Monday.
De La Cruz tripled and scored a run in the first inning and then singled and scored again in the third. He also stole his 49th base of the season in the fifth frame. The 22-year-old extended his hit streak to 10 games, and his major-league leading stolen base total is 19 ahead of Brice Turang's 30. On the season, De La Cruz is hitting .258 with 17 home runs, 44 RBI and 67 runs scored across 431 plate appearances.
De La Cruz went 1-for-3 with a walk, a double and a stolen base in Sunday's 5-2 loss to Washington.
De La Cruz's sixth-inning double extended his hit streak to nine games. He later stole his 48th base of the season. After a down May (.208 batting average), De La Cruz has been more consistent, posting averages of .266 in June and .276 in July.
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
Rotowire
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.
De La Cruz is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Rockies.
For just the second time all season, De La Cruz will will hit the bench. According to Charlie Goldsmith of The Cincinnati Enquirer, De La Cruz's absence isn't related to the hand injury he's been managing recently; instead, the 22-year-old is just getting a well-overdue afternoon off while Cincinnati wraps up its series with Colorado with a day game after a night game. De La Cruz won't have much of a chance to catch his breath during the upcoming week while he makes his first All-Star Game appearance next Tuesday in Texas, so the Reds presumably wanted to build in some extra rest for him heading into the Midsummer Classic. Santiago Espinal will step in at shortstop for De La Cruz on Thursday.
