Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Optimistic following injury
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De La Cruz (hamstring) is optimistic he won't miss much time after leaving Sunday's game, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reports.
De La Cruz pulled up on his way to first base on a hit that might normally be a double. He believes he caught himself before doing anything worse to the hamstring. "When I was starting running and then when I was making the turn to get to first, I felt tightness on my hamstring and I immediately decided to stop because I felt like if I kept going, this could get worse," De La Cruz said, via an interpreter. He had gone 2-for-2 with a walk, a stolen base and scored twice Sunday before being removed in the fifth inning. The Reds begin a three-game series with the Royals on Monday.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Set to undergo MRI
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De La Cruz (hamstring) will undergo an MRI on Monday, Pat Brennan of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
De La Cruz exited Sunday's 6-4 win over Atlanta in the fifth inning after pulling up lame on a single that should have been a double. The 24-year-old will now undergo additional imaging, placing some doubt on his status ahead of the team's three-game series at home against the Royals beginning Monday.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Dealing with hamstring issue
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De La Cruz was removed from Sunday's game against Atlanta due to right hamstring tightness. He went 2-for-2 with two runs and his 10th stolen base of the season prior to his departure.
The 24-year-old shortstop sustained the injury Sunday during the fifth inning, when he led off the frame with a likely double but was unable to make it past first base. He's scheduled for medical imaging Monday, per Pat Brennan of The Cincinnati Enquirer, and De La Cruz should continue to be considered day-to-day in the meantime.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Departs with apparent injury
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De La Cruz was removed from Sunday's game against Atlanta with an apparent lower-body injury, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reports.
The speedster led off the fifth inning with what should have been a sure-fire double, but he instead pulled up while rounding first base and was replaced by a pinch runner. The specifics of the injury aren't clear, but there could be some clarity soon with De La Cruz likely headed for medical imaging.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Two-run double vs. NYM
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De La Cruz went 2-for-5 with a two-run double during the Reds' 7-2 win over the Mets on Tuesday.
De La Cruz was one of six Reds batters to log at least two hits during Tuesday's win, and he extended his team's lead to 5-0 after smacking a two-run double off David Peterson in the fourth inning. De La Cruz is slashing .287/.340/.457 with one steal, 13 RBI and 11 extra-base hits (including two home runs) across 103 plate appearances in May.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Goes deep in Game 2 of twin bill
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De La Cruz went 2-for-8 with a home run, a walk and three RBI across both games of Saturday's doubleheader against the Cardinals.
De La Cruz did all of his damage in the second of Saturday's two games, highlighted by a three-run homer in the fifth inning. It marked his ninth multi-hit effort in 21 May games, and he's now hitting .298 with 10 extra-base hits, 11 RBI and 11 runs scored during the month. For the year, the 24-year-old is slashing .288/.355/.529 with 12 home runs, 35 RBI, 37 runs scored and nine steals across 231 plate appearances.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Logs three hits vs. Houston
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De La Cruz went 3-for-4 with a steal and two runs scored during the Reds' 5-0 win over the Astros on Sunday.
It was the fifth time this season that De La Cruz logged three hits in a game, and his steal in the fifth inning was his ninth of the season. The superstar shortstop is slashing .288/.354/.521 with nine steals (on 13 attempts), 10 home runs, 29 RBI and 29 runs scored across 181 plate appearances this season.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Homers in win
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De La Cruz went 1-for-3 with two walks, a two-run home run and an additional run scored in Saturday's 9-2 win over Detroit.
De La Cruz's blast in the second inning extended Cincinnati's lead to 6-1. It was his third homer in the last four contests and ninth of the season, which is tied for fourth in MLB. De La Cruz has hit safely in 22 of 27 games and has yet to go consecutive games without getting on base.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Drills two homers in win Tuesday
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De La Cruz went 3-for-6 with two home runs, five RBI, one stolen base and three runs scored in Tuesday's 12-6 win over the Rays.
De La Cruz's fingerprints were all over this offensive outburst for Cincinnati. Batting right-handed, he smacked a two-run homer off Steven Matz in the first inning. De La Cruz stole his sixth bag of the season in the sixth and later took position player Ben Williamson deep from the left side of the plate in the ninth. De La Cruz hit five homers off left-handed pitching all of last season and has already matched that total in 2026. The 24-year-old is slashing .276/.343/.571 with eight home runs, 18 RBI, 21 runs scored, six stolen bases and a 10:31 BB:K across 108 plate appearances.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Another right-handed homer
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De La Cruz went 2-for-5 with a home run, three RBI and an additional run scored in Sunday's 9-6 loss to the Angels.
The switch-hitting De La Cruz popped a three-run homer in the ninth inning batting right-handed off lefty Drew Pomeranz. Four of his five home runs this season have come from the right side in only 22 at-bats. De La Cruz has historically been more productive from the left side (.844 OPS) than the right (.634).
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Goes deep Friday
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De La Cruz went 1-for-3 with a home run and a walk in Friday's loss to the Angels.
The Reds couldn't muster a lot of offense, though De La Cruz managed to launch his fourth homer of the season in the bottom of the eighth when Cincinnati was already down by nine runs. De La Cruz has been seeing the ball well to start the season and has hit safely in all but three of his 14 games, batting .236 with a .796 OPS, four homers, seven RBI, 10 runs scored, three steals and a 7:18 BB:K across 62 plate appearances.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Steals again
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De La Cruz went 0-for-3 with a walk, a run scored and a stolen base in Wednesday's 7-4 loss to the Marlins.
De La Cruz walked, stole a base and scored a run in the first inning. After failing to record a steal in the first eight games, De La Cruz has stolen a base in three of the last four contests while going 4-for-15 with a double during that span.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Homers against lefty
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De La Cruz went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Friday's 5-3 win over the Rangers.
De La Cruz took left-hander MacKenzie Gore deep in the sixth inning to give the Reds a brief lead. It was the switch hitter's third home run of the season and second as a right-handed batter against a lefty. Historically, De La Cruz has been more productive from the left side (.846 OPS) than the right (.616). Of his 63 career home runs, only 15 have come when batting from the right side.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Swats home run in win
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De La Cruz went 1-for-4 with two walks and a solo home run in Saturday's 6-5 extra-innings win over the Red Sox.
De La Cruz clubbed his first home run of the season in the fifth inning to give Cincinnati a 5-3 lead. The shortstop, who clouted 20-plus home runs in each of his first two full MLB seasons, is looking to rebound from a second-half dip in production in 2025. To that end, Reds manager Terry Francona stated it was an organizational goal to keep De La Cruz fresh, so he may get more rest this season.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Not playing in WBC
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The Reds did not give De La Cruz permission to play in the World Baseball Classic, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reports.
De La Cruz wanted to represent the Dominican Republic, but Cincy has lingering concerns about a quad injury that appeared to limit him over the second half of the 2025 season. The shortstop, who still played all 162 regular-season games, experienced a second-half dip last year after a strong first half. Reds manager Terry Francona acknowledged the need to find ways to keep De La Cruz fresh in 2026, and the trade of Gavin Lux will allow starters to rotate through DH and get breaks from playing the field, per Rosencrans.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Will remain at shortstop in 2026
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The Reds plan to keep De La Cruz at shortstop next season, Charlie Goldsmith of Fox 19 Now Cincinnati reports.
De La Cruz has led baseball in errors in each of his two full seasons as the Reds' starting shortstop. After grading out at plus-14 in Outs Above Average in 2024, per Baseball Savant, he came in at minus-3 in 2025. The inconsistency on defense from De La Cruz has led to speculation that he could move to the outfield, but there are no plans for a position switch at this point. The Reds do plan to give De La Cruz more days off and more starts at designated hitter in 2026, per Goldsmith, with the idea that it will help keep him fresh after he struggled offensively and defensively in the second half in 2025.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Logs steal in third straight game
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De La Cruz went 1-for-4 with a stolen base in Friday's 3-0 loss to the Athletics.
De La Cruz has swiped a bag in three straight games, and he's hit safely in five straight. Prior to this recent uptick in steals, he had logged just one theft on two attempts over a 25-game span from Aug. 11 to Sept. 8. The shortstop is up to 35 steals on the year, matching his rookie-year total but well behind the 67 he posted over 160 games in 2024. De La Cruz has added a .266/.333/.439 slash line, 19 home runs, 82 RBI and 97 runs scored across 147 contests in 2025.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Swipes bag in win
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De La Cruz went 2-for-5 with a walk, one RBI, two runs scored and a stolen base in Sunday's 14-8 win over the Pirates.
De La Cruz opened the scoring with an RBI single in the third inning before stealing his 31st base of the season in the seventh. It was the superstar's first two-hit game of August, as he broke out of a 5-for-32 slump through the month's first eight contests. For the year, he's slashing .277/.353/.467 with 19 home runs, 74 RBI, 82 runs scored and the aforementioned 31 steals across 513 plate appearances.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Swats 17th homer in loss
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De La Cruz went 2-for-5 with a triple and a two-run home run in Saturday's loss against the Cardinals.
De La Cruz was thrown out at home in the third inning while attempting to stretch a triple into an inside-the-park homer, but he made up for it with a towering blast in the seventh inning. The switch-hitting shortstop has been scorching hot in June, slashing .313/.413/.688 with 11 extra-base hits and 12 RBI over his last 18 games. He entered the month with a .763 OPS and has raised it to .838.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Homers in fourth straight contest
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De La Cruz went 3-for-5 with a two-run homer, an additional RBI and three total runs scored in Sunday's 6-4 win over Detroit.
De La Cruz has home runs in four straight contests and at least one hit in his last six -- he's gone 12-for-26 (.461) with six extra-base hits in that span. De La Cruz's recent hot stretch has boosted his slash line to .273/.352/.498 with 16 homers, 50 RBI, 57 runs scored and 20 stolen bases through 310 plate appearances this year.
