Yankees slump should be warning sign for Reds’ reliance on Elly De La Cruz

While Max Fried prevented a sweep, Cincinnati’s series win over the Bronx Bombers revealed both the Reds’ promise and a major flaw of the Yankees. The New York Yankees fell to 11-12 in the month of June, and their slump has coincided with the cooling of Aaron Judge. The reliance on a single superstar to drive a team’s success should serve as a warning sign for the Cincinnati Reds and their usage of Elly De La Cruz.

It’s not that Judge has been bad in June. He is still the runaway favorite for AL MVP and boasts a .950 OPS this month. Rather, the rest of the Yankees haven’t been able to pick up the slack when Judge shifted from “greatest offensive season of all time” to simply best player this season.

Of the Yankees with at least 30 plate appearances in June, only Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Jazz Chisholm have a wRC+ better than 120 in June. In each of the previous two months, five Yankees had a 120 wRC+ or better. Such balance led to success and should be a goal for the Reds as the team pushes for contention.

As Aaron Judge goes, so go the Yankees, and the Reds should take note

In June, De La Cruz and Jose Trevino are the only Reds batters with a wRC+ greater than 120. By way of runs scored and RBI, De La Cruz has accounted for 28.4% of the Reds’ runs in June; he either scored or drove in 26.7% of Cincinnati’s runs prior to June. These are Judge-esque numbers. The Yankees outfielder has accounted for 25.8% of the team’s runs this year.

Compare the Cubs, a far more balanced roster. Pete Crow-Armstrong has driven in or scored 22.8% of the team’s runs, but the rest of the starting lineup, other than Carson Kelly and Matt Shaw, have been involved in at least 15% of the team’s runs. Aside from De La Cruz, only TJ Friedl has contributed to 15% or more of the Reds’ runs.

Having just one player directly involved in more than a quarter of your runs puts the team in a precarious position. If that player slides even a bit, as Judge did when his strikeout rate jumped to 36.4%, the team’s scoring could be disproportionately affected.

The Reds need to avoid this lack of balance at all costs by supplementing De La Cruz with proven run generators up and down the lineup. If they don’t, Cincinnati could be at risk for a losing streak to rival the Yankees.

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