The heart and soul of the Cincinnati Reds is, without a doubt, their 23-year-old shortstop Elly De La Cruz. In his third major league season, De La Cruz started off hot, making his second consecutive All-Star team, and looked like he was taking yet another step forward in his game.
However, it seems like the wheels have fallen off in the past month or so in many aspects of his game. While it would be silly to be full-on concerned about his abilities, it begs the question of whether he needs a few days off the field to reset.
Elly De La Cruz’s 2025 Season Overall
De La Cruz has played 141 games, the most in the National League this year. He has made the statement multiple times this year that he aims to be suited for the full 162-game slate, which he is on pace for so far. While availability is the best ability, it seems like taking the field at shortstop day in and day out with no rest has taken a toll on his production as of late.
On the season, he is slashing .269/.338/.449 for a .787 OPS and 106 OPS+. He has recorded 19 home runs, 28 doubles, 10 triples, and 32 stolen bases. The all-around speed and power are an impressive toolset for De La Cruz.
While this is a step back from his 2024 season’s .809 OPS and 119 OPS+, it certainly isn’t a stat line to be scoffed at either. He will likely end the season with a bWAR at or around 3.5 ~ 4.0 (currently at 3.1 bWAR), which again, will be a step back from 2024 (5.2 bWAR).
August Struggles
In the midst of an August postseason push where the Reds were as close as half a game back of the New York Mets for a Wild Card spot, De La Cruz posted perhaps the worst month of his career.
De La Cruz’s August Stats:
.224/.256/.319
.575 OPS
47 wRC+
4.1 BB%
31.4 K%
This disappointing month came off the heels of a spectacular July, where De La Cruz posted an .831 OPS. The dog days of summer seemingly hit him hard, as the wear and tear of being out on the field every day has zapped him of his usual production.
In the last 62 games, De La Cruz has hit just one home run, coming on the last day of July. He has made a league-leading 22 errors this season, with a bulk of them coming in the past month or so.
Elly De La Cruz has hit 1 home run in his last 270 plate appearances. pic.twitter.com/E3Bu6lemns
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) September 5, 2025
Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) has not been kind to him this year, standing at -7 DRS in 136 games at shortstop. Outs Above Average (OAA) has him at -4 OAA on the season, which is a metric that has previously been high on him in 2024 (14 OAA — 98th percentile). A good amount of his defensive struggles can fall under the category of fatigue, as he is not moving as well out there on the field. While aiming to play as much as possible is a great mindset to have, it seems counterproductive when the production has been where it’s been for over a month now.
De La Cruz has already cut down on his stolen base attempts, much to the dismay of the fans. This, however, is most likely a Terry Francona decision rather than a personal decision made by De La Cruz.
De La Cruz’s Impact
With all the struggles documented, it is still worth noting that Elly De la Cruz is far and away Cincinnati’s best player. They have been hovering around .500 for a while now, and would be much lower in the standings without him.
The 23-year-old is still leading the team in multiple categories: HR, RBI, SB, R, SLG, OPS, H, 2B, 3B, G
Without him, the Reds would fall apart and stumble towards the bottom of the NL Central. The heartbeat of the Cincinnati Reds has taken a step back this year, but a few tweaks here and there in the offseason should bring him back to 100% for next season.
Main Photo Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
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