Reds Not Rushing Elly De La Cruz as Terry Francona Provides Latest Update

Elly De La Cruz wants to be back on the field.

Apr 1, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly de la Cruz (44) scores on a RBI double hit by designated hitter Nathaniel Lowe (not pictured) in the fourth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images | Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

Cincinnati Reds star shortstop Elly De La Cruz suffered a hamstring injury on May 31 against the Atlanta Braves and has been on the injured list.

He is elibible to be activated from the injured list, but the Reds are being smart and using the cautious approach with their infielder.

Before Sunday's series finale against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Reds manager Terry Francona provided an update on De La Cruz.

"Elly’s chomping at the bit, and we're trying to do what's right, and I think it aggravates him…. we love the fact of how much he wants to play, believe me, and we actually really respect it. We still have to do what's right, and I think in these situations, this is where I or we have to defer to medical people, because when Doc says this, and the trainers say this, and Fumo says this, we can't overrule them, that's not going to work.”

Hamstring injuries are tricky and you never want to rush back from them or it can make it worse. The Reds are doing the right thing is playing it safe with De La Cruz. If they have him come back too early, and he re-injures it, the team would be in deep trouble in terms of staying afloat for a playoff spot.

Reds First Round Draft Pick Steele Hall Continues to Impress

The Reds drafted high school shortstop Steele Hall with the No. 9 pick in the 2025 MLB Draft. He's off to a nice start in the Arizona Complex League playing with the ACL Reds.

The shortstop hit his 6th home run of the season last night for the ACL Reds. The 18-year-old is now hitting .299/.419/.564 with 6 HR, 11 SB, and a .983 OPS through his first 31 professional games.

Reds scouting director Joe Katuska talked about what they liked about Hall after the draft.

“Leading up to this process was a little bit jumbled about what we thought industry consensus was in front, I wouldn’t say we were surprised he got there but we knew there was a chance he didn’t get there," Katuska told Doug Gray on RedsMinorLeagues.com. "We thought if you lined him up at the end of the summer and put him into next year’s draft he might be a guy you’re talking about at the #1 overall pick. And that’s what we do when we project these players. We’re talking about what they are at the big league level. That’s what we saw over the course of the year – he just kept getting better every time we saw him.”

It's good to see him off to a strong start in his professional career.