Elly De La Cruz injury timeline suddenly gives Reds a chance to save their season

The Cincinnati Reds are limping into their upcoming weekend series against the Arizona Diamondbacks having gone 2-7 since losing Elly De La Cruz to a hamstring injury late last month.

Thankfully, the latest injury update from Reds manager Terry Francona was a positive one, and it sounds like Cincinnati could have their superstar shortstop back in the starting lineup as soon as next week.

According to the Reds' skipper, De La Cruz's scans came back on Friday and revealed that his hamstring strain is 90% healed. He was initially scheduled to receive a followup MRI next week, but those scans were moved up by three days after De La Cruz showed tremendous progress with his recovery.

Francona told FOX19's Joe Danneman that De La Cruz wanted to play on Friday against the D-backs, but the clubs is taking a much more cautious approach and will reevaluate the two-time All-Star after the weekend. The Reds are undecided about whether or not to send De La Cruz on a rehab assignment.

The New York Mets visit Great American Ball Park early next week, and with minor league team using Monday as an off-day, even a two-game rehab stint would keep De La Cruz out of the Reds lineup until their road trip to the Bronx to the play the New York Yankees next week.

More than likely, Reds fans should expect to see De La Cruz back on field Monday versus the Mets — but Cincinnati's leadership is right to be cautious. Francona would rather be without his star shortstop for two more games rather two more weeks.

Reds need the best version of Elly De La Cruz to make a playoff push

De La Cruz was off to arguably his best start since arriving in the major leagues back in 2023. Though his speed was down a touch, De La Cruz made tremendous strides defensively at shortstop, and he was hitting for both average and power.

When he's back in the lineup, the Reds will need De La Cruz to pick up where he left off. He was hitting .280/.346/.509 with 12 home runs and 10 stolen bases prior to the injury. He ranked among the 85th percentile or higher in several advanced stats like expected slugging percentage, barrel rate, and average exit velocity.

When De La Cruz returns, it's quite likely that Edwin Arroyo will return to Triple-A Louisville. The Reds' top infield prospect has been a fill-in of sorts during De La Cruz's absence, but has only started six of 10 games and has just five singles so far this season.

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