Reds’ 2025 hopes hinge on Elly De La Cruz becoming the superstar he was hyped to be..
Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz was the darling of MLB preseason predictions this year. Those prognostications, however, may have been a bit premature. While De La Cruz’s play has been acceptable this season, and at some times bordering on the spectacular, his numbers are nowhere near what some predicted. If the Reds hope to reach the postseason this year, his play will have to match the preseason hype.
Paul Hembekides of ESPN predicted De La Cruz would hit 40 home runs and steal 80 bases in 2025. MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince was also in the 80 stolen bases camp. ESPN’s David Schoenfield (subscription required) predicted De La Cruz would be worth 8.2 WAR with 38 home runs. Yahoo! Sports floated the idea that De La Cruz could be in the mix to become the first player in MLB history to sign a $1 billion contract. Xavier Scruggs of MLB Network believed Elly would be the new face of baseball.
To date, De La Cruz has fallen short of all these lofty expectations, and is even trailing some of his teammates in some statistical categories that most would assume he’d be leading. While he had a good day at the plate on Saturday against the Chicago, De La Cruz’s 0.8 bWAR places him ninth on the team; even trailing Will Benson in that category despite having played in an additional 40 games.
Elly De La Cruz will have to pick up the pace if the Reds hope to find success in 2025
As expected, De La Cruz is the team leader in runs scored, home runs, RBI, and stolen bases. But there are other categories where one would assume De La Cruz would dominate, and yet he’s nowhere near the top. His .248 batting average ranks 10th on the team and his .322 on-base percentage has him behind Santiago Espinal and Austin Hays. Perhaps most surprising is De La Cruz’s .417 slugging percentage which is behind Jose Trevino and barely ahead of TJ Friedl.
De La Cruz has also struggled once again with strikeouts this season. While he’s certainly been squeezed on occasion by home plate umpires, De La Cruz owns a 28.5% strikeout rate and 32.4% whiff rate. His defense remains a concern among the Reds fanbase, and the sabremetrics junkies can’t even save him this time. In addition to leading the league in errors, De La Cruz is worth -4 outs above average (OAA) and -3 defensive runs saved (DRS).
There’s no doubt that De La Cruz has plenty of time to turn his season around — his performance on Saturday proved that — but those lofty goals set by so many in the national media seem somewhat unattainable at this point. The Reds, however, need De La Cruz to perform at that All-Star level in order to find success this season. It’s a big burden to bear, but that’s what comes with his superstar status.
About The Author
