Elly De La Cruz Becomes First Reds Player Since 1900 to Accomplish Incredible Feat

Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz made history two different times in Thursday night's victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. He became the first player in Reds history to record at least 20 stolen bases in each of his first four Major League seasons when he stole a base in the fifth inning on Thursday.

De La Cruz is the first Red since 1900 with three extra-base hits and two stolen bases in a single game. The 24-year-old went 3-for-4 with a walk, three doubles, and two stolen bases on Thursday night. He was also responsible for the game-winning run.

He led off the ninth inning with a double on a 2-0 slider against Gregory Soto that was hit nearly 116 mph. After the Pirates elected to intentionally walk Sal Stewart, JJ Bleday struck out, Tyler Stephenson walked, and that set up a Nathaniel Lowe walk-off fielder's choice.

Reds manager Terry Francona was impressed by De La Cruz's big night.

“Right-handed, those were three really good swings. Nice and short to the ball," Francona told MLB.com's Mark Sheldon. "Like good baserunners, he smells it coming out of the box. He always gives himself a chance and then with his speed and his strides, he’s in the position where he can take advantage of that.”

The Reds and Pirates will face off in Game 2 of the series on Friday night at 6:10 ET. Hunter Greene will start on the mound for the Reds and Paul Skenes will take the hill for the Pirates.

Steele Hall Has Big Night With Daytona

The Reds drafted Steele Hall with the 9th overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft out of Hewitt-Trussville High School in Alabama. After slashing .288/.387/.518 with 30 extra-base hits in 58 games with the ACL Reds, he was promoted and played in his second game with the Daytona Tortugas.

He picked up his first hit in Low-A and went 1-2 with three walks and two RBIs.

"While Hall’s swing can get a little long at times in games, he’s shown in batting practice that he has the ability to be quick to the ball and to drive it gap-to-gap," MLB Pipeline wrote. "He’s a free swinger who will need to refine his approach, particularly in terms of recognizing secondary stuff. There’s still projection in his frame, which could help him be an average hitter with at least fringe-average power, if not more. It will be interesting to see how the Reds allow him to progress after slow-playing prep shortstops like Sammy Stafura and Tyson Lewis out of the gate in recent years."

Hall is a prospect to closely monitor for the rest of the season.

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