Elly De La Cruz DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz provided all the offense the Reds needed in their 5-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. He went 1-for-4 with a two-out grand slam off of Pirates' starter Andrew Heaney in the third inning. The 23-year-old switch-hitter is hitting .237 (14-for-59) with three home runs and three stolen bases through his first 15 games of the season. He isn't quite firing on all cylinders yet, but his grand slam was enough to deliver the win for his team on Saturday and move the team to within one win of .500 as they look to close out a sweep of their division foe on Sunday afternoon.

Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz posted a huge game in a 14-3 win over the Texas Rangers on Monday. De La Cruz went 4-for-5 with a double, two homers, four runs, seven RBI, and a stolen base in the blowout win over Texas. The speedy infielder hit his first homer off Kumar Rocker in the second inning, a three-run shot, and later ripped a two homer homer in the seventh. It has been an encouraging start to the season for De La Cruz, who is now hitting .438 with two homers, eight RBI, and one steal. De La Cruz emerged as an elite power/speed fantasy asset in 2024, hitting 25 homers and swiping 67 bags across 160 games. He remains a must-start in fantasy leagues.

Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz has a new batting stance heading into the 2025 season. De La Cruz's new stance is more open, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer's Charlie Goldsmith, while he also stands a bit taller. The stance is a more "controlled aggression" that is aimed at cutting down his strikeouts moving forward. The 23-year-old is already one of the most exciting young players in baseball, but he led the league with 218 strikeouts in 2024. In addition to leading MLB in K's, he led the league in errors (29), times caught stealing (16) and non-stealing outs on the bases (15), so he still has plenty to work on. De La Cruz had 25 home runs and a league-high 67 stolen bases as well, and if he can cut down on his strikeouts in 2025, he'll easily pay off his price as a top-five overall fantasy selection on draft day this spring.