Reds' star Elly De La Cruz is making one painful realization impossible to ignore

It's hard to believe, but Elly De La Cruz is still only 24 years old. It feels as if the Cincinnati Reds shortstop has been around forever, and to a degree, he has. This is his fourth big-league season. At the same time, it feels like we've been waiting for his breakout all along. This isn't to say that De La Cruz hasn't had some serious highs, but at the same time, it feels like 2026 has been his true coming-out party.

Through May 16, he's second in all of baseball (first in the NL) in fWAR with a 2.5 mark. Part of that is due to some marked improvements. De La Cruz is an electric athlete with a cannon for an arm, but he hasn't always been good defensively. That's no longer the case as he now ranks third among all MLB shortstops with six outs above average. The outfield narrative can finally be put to bed.

The other big issue with De La Cruz was his performance against left-handed pitching. In 2025, he hit just .236/.276/.342 against southpaws. Effectively, he was a switch-hitter in name only, thanks to the gap between his strong and weak sides. Now, though, he's hitting an eye-popping .292/.327/.667 against lefties, thanks to some key adjustments.

So, with outstanding performance driven by two huge strides forward in areas where he historically struggled, 2026 is his breakout, right? Not quite, because presuming that glosses over an important 2025 storyline that holds a vital lesson for now and the future.

Elly De La Cruz's 2025 injury might've cost the Reds' star more than fans realize

De La Cruz is an iron man. The power and the speed are the main draws, but the durability is a really nice complementary part of his game. It's also a trap.

The young superstar has played 322 of a possible 324 games from 2024 to 2025. He's played all 46 of Cincinnati's games so far this season. Last year, he had put together a sizzling first half that saw him slash .284/.359/.495. Then he crashed in the second half with a .236/.303/.363.

For many, that was a sign that, for as good as he is, he isn't a true superstar. It's a reason why some folks doubt that he'll continue his blistering pace this season. Lost in that discourse is the leg injury he suffered in late July last year.

Obviously, it didn't cost him any time on the IL, but after the season, Nick Krall let it be known that it was a quadriceps strain with a partial tear that ailed him down the stretch. It's somewhat unbelievable that he didn't need to miss any time, but it's also not hard to connect the dots between the sore leg and the dip in production.

While he focused a lot on strength and conditioning over the offseason, showing some restraint and allowing him an actual day off once in a while is the best path forward. He means so much for the lineup, but that means nothing if he's playing hurt with his powers sapped by injury. Finding a way to get him some rest from time to time could be the key to sustaining his breakout and the Reds' playoff hopes at the same time.

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