Why Elly De La Cruz Could Be on Verge of Monster 2026 Season

The Cincinnati Reds have been trending in the right direction ever since superstar shorstop Elly De La Cruz made his way through the minor league system and up into the big leagues a few years ago.

De La Cruz was exciting in his first season. He was dominant in his sophomore campaign. And he was a bit disappointing last year, but there's some context to add. De La Cruz was injured for half the season, though he played through it. Still, this injury crushed his production down the stretch quite a bit. Now, he's healthy and ready to dominate this spring.

Thomas Nestico of TJStats recently listed De La Cruz as one of the hitters he liked the most heading into this season while sharing a lot of high praise for the Reds superstar.

Elly De La Cruz Has Chance to Dominate in 2026

Mar 12, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman (right) with Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz during a spring training game at Camelback Ranch-Glendale. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

"Elly De La Cruz? The Superstar? Daring, I know! It is hard to expect much more from a player that has posted 10.9 fWAR in his first two full MLB seasons, but here I am. This selection is mostly driven by my bearish view of Elly’s projections entering the season. Of course projections are going to heavily weigh his 2025 season where a quad injury turned Elly into a shell of himself, but that is where context is king," Nestico wrote. "It was a tale of two halves for the explosive switch hitter. Prior to his injury at the start of the 2nd half, Elly posted an exceptional 128 wRC+ supported by above average contact quality and elite speed. It was obvious that his quad issue greatly limited his effectiveness as he returned a subpar 80 wRC+ in the 2nd half while hitting only 4 HR with 12 SB. This version of Elly was not the one that readily racked up 6.6 fWAR just a year prior."

Looking at De La Cruz's 2025 season in its entirety will produce a disappointing outcome. However, if you look at De La Cruz's production when he was healthy during the first half of the year, it's very easy to believe in his ability to take a major step forward.

The young shortstop was one of the more productive players in the league during the first half of the year, but the injury crushed that production in the second half.

De La Cruz is healthy and protected in the lineup following the addition of Eugenio Suarez. This should result in him seeing more pitches to hit this season than ever before because pitchers won't want to walk De La Cruz to bring up Eugenio Suárez and Sal Stewart.

It seems like it's the perfect storm that could see the young shortstop put together a career year.

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