Elly De La Cruz is showing the Reds his MVP ceiling and it’s scary

There's a high likelihood of a Cincinnati Reds player taking home a major individual award this season as Sal Stewart lays waste to the rest of the rookie field and watches his odds rise dramatically. He will be the only Red in the conversation for an award, but he shouldn't be.

Those darn MLB executives are at it again with another awards poll, this time for the NL MVP Award. There are two obvious front-runners, Pete Crow-Armstrong, who is on his way to a 40-40 season and perhaps a Platinum Glove, and four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani. Beyond those two, however, the field gets interesting.

The 3-through-5 spots in the poll belong to Kyle Schwarber, Jacob Misiorowski, and Matt Olson. Beyond that, there are more than a dozen other players receiving votes, including...JJ Wetherholt. For the record, there are no Reds, Sal Stewart, or otherwise, present.

The name that should be there, above Wetherholt and a few others, is Elly De La Cruz, and frankly, it's a travesty that Cincinnati's star isn't getting more recognition.

Elly De La Cruz is proving to Reds fans and the MLB world why he'll be in the 2027 NL MVP conversation

The leap that De La Cruz has taken this year has gone under the radar. He's hitting a career-high .281 entering play on September 8. His walk rate is a career-best 11%. His defense has rebounded after a down-year last season. His Baseball Savant page is splattered in bright red, with a 94.4 mph average exit velocity that ranks in the 99th percentile, leading the way.

Part of the reason why the 24-year-old isn't getting more recognition is the fact that he missed roughly three weeks in June with a hamstring strain, marking his first-ever IL stint. If not for that, he'd be closing in on a 30-30 season.

In fact, despite the fact that his playing time has been limited, his 5.3 fWAR ranks second only to Crow-Armstrong (9.6 fWAR) in the National League. Had he not missed time and been limited since, that gap would no doubt be much narrower.

Another value proposition that De La Cruz provides that isn't always properly valued is his durability. Last season, he struggled with a quad strain yet didn't miss a single game. Even now, he's playing through another quad strain, but unlike last season, he's thriving.

Since being removed from the Reds' August 30 matchup with the injury, De La Cruz has slashed .455/.556/.773 with four homers, seven runs scored, and eight RBI. Not only is he playing through pain, but he's dominating.

It's felt for years like De La Cruz has been on the cusp of something special, but something has always stood in the way. Of course, the real deal is that he's a 24-year-old and is still developing.

Speaking of development, De La Cruz has made a huge one in 2026. Despite being a switch-hitter, he's historically underperformed against lefties with a career .607 OPS against southpaws entering this season. This year, he's righted that wrong with a whopping 1.055 OPS against lefties.

In reality, De La Cruz is one of the few true five-tool players in the game today, and he's a physical specimen whose athletic gifts are basically unmatched.

In 2026, we've seen him up his contact game substantially, while doing even more to translate his tools into real-world production. That matters, and while the time he missed might not make the counting stats line up with a guy like Crow-Armstrong, the underlying metrics say he can do the very same thing, if not more.

A healthy 2027 for De La Cruz could yield a 40-40 season or better. He's that talented, and if the Reds can beef up the lineup to provide him and Stewart some real protection, watch out. De La Cruz has laid the foundation in 2026, and he'll give the world a run for its money in the 2027 NL MVP chase.

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