Reds Address Elly De La Cruz's Questionable Maneuver With Spring Training Looming

This was not a great look.

Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz (44) throws for first to force out right fielder Teoscar Hernandez (37) in the seventh inning of the MLB National League Wild Card Game 2 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. The Reds were eliminated from the postseason with an 8-4 loss to the reining World Series Champions La Dodgers. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

On Friday morning, a video surfaced of Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz on a dirt bike without a helmet. It was a video that had a lot of Reds fans talking with Spring Training just a week or so away.

Reds General Manager Brad Meador responded to the video.

“I talked to Elly," Meador told Charlie Goldsmith of Charlie's Chalkboard. "He wasn’t riding it. It was just for the video.”

This is a relief. Most contracts have language in them that prevent athletes particpating in activities like this and I am guessing De La Cruz's is no different.

Hopefully, it's true that De La Cruz was simply on the dirt bike for the video. The last thing the Reds can afford is for De La Cruz to enter the season injured, especially if it was due to riding a dirt bike in the offseason.

You can see Goldsmith's full post below:

Reds GM Brad Meador on the video of Elly De La Cruz on a dirt bike: “I talked to Elly. He wasn’t riding it. It was just for the video.”

— Charlie Goldsmith (@CharlieG__) February 6, 2026

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