Disturbing Elly De La Cruz stat reveals the Reds' urgent need for help

Since August 17, the Cincinnati Reds have gone 13-19 and have faded toward the bottom of the National League standings. During that same span, however, Elly De La Cruz has been on fire.

The Reds' shortstop has found his swing over the past month-plus. He's hitting .366/.443/.650 with eight homers, six stolen bases, and a 195 wRC+. You can pick any offensive category, and odds are good that De La Cruz is leading the Reds since mid-August.

De La Cruz's production has added 2.4 fWAR to his ledger, which is the second-most among all position position players behind the presumptive NL MVP favorite Pete Crow-Armstrong. The problem? The rest of the hitters on the Reds' roster have combined for 0.1 fWAR in that same span.

This stretch is the clearest proof yet of how poorly constructed the Reds roster truly is, and it reveals just how far away they are from competing against the best teams in the National League.

The Reds' lineup is over-reliant on Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart

For reference, during Crow-Armstrong's torrid stretch, the rest of the Chicago Cubs lineup has combined for 6.5 fWAR. He's gotten a ton of help from his teammates, which is why they're in prime position to make the playoffs and the Reds are eliminated from postseason contention.

The Reds cannot continue to waste this kind of production from De La Cruz. Sal Stewart (117 wRC+, 0.5 fWAR) and Eugenio Suárez (.819 OPS, 0.4 fWAR) have both been solid contributors, and Dane Myers (122 wRC+, 0.6 fWAR) has emerged as one of the team's more reliable bats during that span as well.

But the Reds' role players have been unacceptably bad. Matt McLain, Jose Trevino, Ke'Bryan Hayes, Edwin Arroyo, JJ Bleday, and Noelvi Marte are sitting on the negative side of the WAR ledger. The highest wRC+ among that group is Bleday's mark of 69.

As great as De La Cruz and Stewart are, you're not going to win many games when the other seven players in the lineup can't hit or play good defense. A complete roster overhaul isn't necessary, but the Reds have to give their best players more support if they want to keep pace with the titans of the National League.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow