Cincinnati Reds star infielder Elly De La Cruz continues to wow the baseball world with seemingly effortless highlight plays.
Now, his Reds teammate Nick Lodolo is laying out just what make De La Cruz so special.
Said the Reds pitcher on his teammate, “There's not much to it, to be honest with you. The guy just wants to play baseball. That's about it. Everything on the field, you see it. The guy's got every tool in the bag. It's really fun to watch him play. You know, last year I didn't even get to play with Elly, so getting to see it this year for the first time every day is pretty cool.”
It's rare to find a player that is not only a five-tool player but is so elite at the various skillsets that go into making up a quality baseball player. Lodolo certainly seems to understand how lucky he is to be able to witness Elly up close every day with the Reds.
Elly De La Cruz now batting 2nd for Reds
Reds manager David Bell waited to move De La Cruz up from the No. 6 spot in the Reds’ order. He has been the Reds’ best hitter this season, but he didn’t move up in the batting order until last Sunday, when the Reds played their 21st game of the year. Instead of bouncing De La Cruz up and down the order based on whether or not he was in a rhythm at the plate, Bell took his time to make sure the lineup change when the Reds faced right-handed pitchers was a more permanent move.
De La Cruz has certainly seemed more locked in for the Reds of late.
He had five errors in the first 11 games of the season. In the dozen games since, he's had no errors. He’s cut down on his strikeouts, too. De La Cruz struck out 17 times in the first nine games through that Mets series. He's reduced that to 12 times in the last 14 games, still too many strikeouts but a definite sign of improvement.
These are all small, positive signs that the Reds' phenom is starting to adjust to the big leagues.
De La Cruz leads the Reds in batting average, home runs, runs and on-base percentage. He's tied for the major-league lead in stolen bases. So far, he’s hitting better at Great American Ball Park than he did last season. Five of his seven homers have been at home.
Six more weeks of this, and he’ll be an All-Star. Major League Baseball needs De La Cruz in the All-Star Game. He’s a huge needle-mover in a sport desperate for pop culture relevance and anytime he does something jaw-dropping, Ellymania resurfaces all over the web. The thought of an EDLC inside-the-park home run in the Lone Star State is enough to make the league office salivate.
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