Elly De La Cruz gives Reds a real shot to crash Shohei Ohtani-Juan Soto MVP showdown

Baseball loves a clean MVP script. A couple megastars trade haymakers, the national shows loop the same highlights, and by August it feels like the ballot is already printed.

That’s exactly what Juan Soto just tried to ignite when he basically looked at the National League and said, cool story — I’m coming for Shohei Ohtani. Soto told MLB.com he knows what the problem is (“I’ve got to find a way to beat him”) and even framed it like a long-term chase, because both guys are under guaranteed NL contracts through 2033. 

Elly De La Cruz is a dangerous MVP sleeper while the NL watches Shohei Ohtani vs. Juan Soto

On paper, it’s an easy sell: Ohtani is the reigning, unanimous 2025 NL MVP after a season that included 55 homers and a 1.014 OPS, and the whole “also pitches” wrinkle is always going to warp the award voting for him. And Soto is Soto — an on-base machine with superstar power who’s tired of finishing near the top of the list without ever grabbing the trophy. 

The MVP race doesn’t have to be a two-man arm-wrestle. Because Elly De La Cruz is sitting right there, looking like the exact kind of player who could accidentally end up in MVP conversations… until it’s not accidental anymore.

Last season, Elly didn’t post clean, runaway MVP numbers — but the profile does bend in that direction. He played all 162 games, hit .264 with 22 homers and 67 steals, and kept manufacturing runs in ways that don’t always show up in a box score. FanGraphs still credited him with 7.0 WAR in 2025.

And that’s the entire sleeper case, right there: Elly doesn’t need to out-homer Ohtani or out-walk Soto. He needs to out-impact them.

Ohtani can overwhelm the ballot with two-way value if he’s truly a full-season pitching contributor again. Soto can do his “prime inner-circle legend” thing if he pushes his power/average even higher like he’s aiming to do.

But Elly’s path is different — he’s the rare MVP candidate who can rack up value in every column, every night, while playing a premium position and basically turning singles into doubles with his legs. And if Cincinnati is any good? That’s where the “sleeper” label dies fast.

MVP voters love a breakout that pulls a team into relevance. Think 2024 Bobby Witt Jr., the guy who forced his way into a top-two MVP finish by showing up in every high-leverage moment. They especially love it when the league spends April and May arguing about the “obvious” candidates… and then one guy keeps popping up in every game-changing moment until the conversation has no choice but to expand.

Let the national storyline be Ohtani vs. Soto for now. Let it be the heavyweight bout on the marquee. Just understand this: Elly is the Reds’ way of cutting the lights mid-fight and stealing the whole show.