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
Rotowire
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
Rotowire
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
Rotowire
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: Pops leadoff homer
Rotowire
De La Cruz went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Sunday's 7-3 win over Arizona.
De La Cruz, who returned to the lineup after a one-day respite, led off the bottom of the first inning with his fifth homer in 40 games. The blast comes at a time when the electrifying rookie is mired in his first major slump. De La Cruz entered the game just 2-for-31 with 15 strikeouts since the All-Star break.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Receives rare rest
Rotowire
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
Rotowire
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
Rotowire
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: On stolen base streak
Rotowire
De La Cruz went 1-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base and a run scored in Friday's 7-3 loss to Milwaukee.
De La Cruz has steals in four straight and is up to 13 (caught twice) in 28 games since being promoted to the majors. The rookie also has hit safely in five straight, going 11-for-21 (.524) with three doubles, a home run, three RBI and five runs scored.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Has bat checked
Rotowire
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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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Fills up box score in win
Rotowire
De La Cruz went 3-for-6 with two doubles, a solo home run and a steal in Wednesday's 9-2 victory over the Nationals.
De La Cruz crushed a 455-foot shot off Josiah Gray, extending the Reds' lead to 5-1 in the fifth inning, before adding two doubles and a stolen base later in the game. The star rookie is now 7-for-10 over his last two games, boosting his slash line to .318/.356/.536 with four homers, 25 runs scored, 14 RBI and 11 steals through his first 118 plate appearances.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Notches four hits in victory
Rotowire
De La Cruz went 4-for-4 with an RBI, a run scored and a steal in Tuesday's win over Washington.
It's already the 10th multi-hit effort for De La Cruz through 25 MLB games and his second four-hit performance. After a fast start to his career, De La Cruz had cooled off slightly, going 5-for-36 (.139) with one extra-base hit over his previous eight games. With his big game Tuesday, the 21-year-old infielder boosted his slash line back up to .308/.348/.490 with three homers, 23 runs scored, 13 RBI and 10 steals through 112 plate appearances this season.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Gets breather Friday
Rotowire
De La Cruz isn't in the Reds' lineup Friday against the Astros, Gordon Wittenmyer of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
After taking the majors by storm with a hot start to his MLB career, De La Cruz has cooled off as of late with just a .470 OPS over the last seven days. He'll get a day off Friday to regroup while Nick Senzel covers third base, Spencer Steer moves to left field and Kevin Newman starts at first.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Gets aboard four times
Rotowire
De La Cruz went 2-for-3 with two walks, one RBI, a stolen base and two runs scored in Sunday's 4-3 win over the Cardinals.
De La Cruz has hit safely in each of his first six major-league games (8-for-22), and this was his second multi-hit effort. He's also posted a reasonable 5:10 BB:K through 27 plate appearances, showing some decent plate discipline for a rookie. Pitchers may eventually figure him out, but the Reds called him up because he's ready, so he should see consistent playing time -- he's played four times at third base and twice at shortstop so far. The top prospect already has three stolen bases in the majors after swiping 11 bags over 38 games for Triple-A Louisville.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Hits first big-league homer
Rotowire
De La Cruz went 2-for-4 with a triple, a two-run home run and an additional run scored in an 8-6 victory versus the Dodgers on Wednesday.
In his sixth big-league plate appearance, De La Cruz hammered a 458-foot two-run shot to right field in the first inning off veteran hurler Noah Syndergaard. The exit velocity on the homer was 114.8 mph, making it the hardest hit ball of the season so far for the Reds. De La Cruz is looking like an immediate difference-maker in fantasy leagues -- since his call-up, he's gone 3-for-7 with three-extra base hits and two walks as Cincinnati's cleanup hitter.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Gets first start at shortstop
Rotowire
De La Cruz is batting cleanup and hitting fourth versus the Dodgers on Wednesday, Gordon Wittenmyer of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
De La Cruz went 1-for-3 with a double and two walks in his MLB debut against the Dodgers on Tuesday while playing third base, and he'll handle shortstop duties versus Noah Syndergaard and Los Angeles on Wednesday. Kevin Newman is playing third base and hitting eighth with Matt McLain lined up as the designated hitter while batting second.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Batting cleanup in debut
Rotowire
De La Cruz is playing third base and batting cleanup in his MLB debut Tuesday versus the Dodgers.
De La Cruz jumps right into a prominent spot in the Reds' lineup following his official promotion Tuesday afternoon from Triple-A Louisville, where he had registered a sparkling 1.031 OPS with 12 home runs and 11 stolen bases through 38 games. The dynamic 21-year-old top prospect can also play shortstop, but Matt McLain has locked down that gig since earning his own call-up in mid-May. Beyond third and short, De La Cruz should also be an option in the DH role for Cincinnati.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Promoted to majors
Rotowire
Cincinnati recalled De La Cruz from Triple-A Louisville on Tuesday.
One of the top overall prospects in baseball and absolutely dripping with multi-category fantasy upside, De La Cruz is set to make his major-league debut in the Reds' series opener Tuesday with the visiting Dodgers. The 21-year-old switch-hitting infielder was sporting a robust .298/.398/.633 batting line with 12 home runs, 36 RBI, 11 stolen bases and 38 runs scored through 38 games (186 plate appearances) this season at the Triple-A level. He tallied 28 homers and 47 steals in 121 games last year between High-A Dayton and Double-A Chattanooga. There are issues with strikeouts, but the sky is the limit on De La Cruz's long-term potential as a new era of Reds baseball begins.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Possible waiver wire pickups
Rotowire
It's not often I recommend adding a yet-to-be-promoted prospect in this space, but Elly De La Cruz is no ordinary prospect, having delivered higher top-end velocities than any major-leaguer this year. And on the subject of his arrival, things are heating up. True, the Reds have yet to tip their hand, but national media has begun to treat it as an inevitability. De La Cruz's progress has been plain to see. His plate discipline has improved in May, giving him nearly as many walks (20) as strikeouts (22) over his last 20 games, and during that same span, he's batting .346 (27 for 78) with 10 homers and nine steals. If the promotion indeed comes for a talent of this caliber, you'll be thankful you stashed him away already.
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Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Out with hamstring strain
Rotowire
De La Cruz suffered a left hamstring strain March 18 and will miss the start of the minor-league season, Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
The 21-year-old apparently suffered the injury shortly after being reassigned to minor-league camp in mid-March, and he has a tentative return date of April 12. De La Cruz is one of the top prospects in baseball, and he's poised to play for Triple-A Louisville once healthy after he posted a .947 OPS between the High-A and Double-A levels last year.
