With the arrival of eternal optimism, otherwise known as Spring Training. Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz is looking for a repeat of his breakout 2024 season, or maybe more. The 23-year-old fully cemented himself as a bonafide superstar in 2024, playing at an elite level offensively, defensively, and on the bases. He’s started Spring Training with a bang, homering in his first two at-bats of 2025, hitting one from each side of the plate.
Despite already breaking out, there’s a possibility that De La Cruz can reach another level in 2025.
De La Cruz’s Jump From 2023 to 2024
De La Cruz shined in his first month or so in the big leagues, launching 450+ foot home runs and hitting for the cycle. However, he cooled off as the season went on, ending 2023 with a .710 OPS and an 83 wRC+, placing him below the league average. In 2024, De La Cruz raised his OPS by 100 points exactly, ending the season with a .810 OPS and a 118 wRC+.
His fWAR also took a massive leap, going from 1.8 fWAR in 98 games in 2023 to 6.4 fWAR in 160 games in 2024. The biggest concern regarding De La Cruz’s game is his strikeouts. In 2023, he struck out a whopping 33.7% of the time. In 2024, he cut that down by a small margin of 2.4%, but a reduction, nonetheless.
He also improved his on-base abilities by raising OBP by 39 points, from .300 in 2023 to .339 in 2024. This is partly due to his raising his walk rate by 1.7% (8.2 BB% to 9.9 BB%) and his batting average from .235 to .259.
The positive of De La Cruz’s flaw is that it’s essentially the only flaw in his game, and second, it is the most common struggle among young players. With experience tracking big league pitching, this flaw is likely going to dwindle down as his career progresses. The positive side of things is that we’ve seen the strikeout rate decrease already, even if it is by a small margin.
Hopeful Expectations For 2025
While another step forward is possible for De La Cruz, it will likely not be a leap of increasing his OPS by 100 points. The most likely jump for him this year would be him cutting down his swings and misses by a bit, thus increasing his batting average. While it is understandable that batting average is not the end all be all, any increase in batting average will automatically increase other areas of his game, such as his on-base and slugging percentage.
He is already walking at an impressive rate of 9.9BB% (72nd percentile), but if that number can increase by about one or two more percent, it would significantly improve his game as well. De La Cruz stole bases at an electric rate in 2024, swiping 67 bags in 2024. With a bump in on-base percentage, he can wreak havoc on the base paths even more, leading to more runs.
Another possible concern in De La Cruz’s game is his defense. He had a whopping 29 errors in 2024, but the metrics still grade him out to be an elite defender, as he was in the 98th percentile in OAA (outs above average) with 15 in 2024.
If Elly De La Cruz repeats his 2024 season in 2025, it will undoubtedly be an elite season. However, there is optimism regarding him taking another step forward as he enters his 23-year-old season. Either way, De La Cruz is one of the brightest young stars in the game and is gearing towards a 2025 full of personal hope and team hope.
Main Photo Credits: Frank Bowen IV/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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