The Reds' Biggest Challenge With Elly De La Cruz? Slowing Him Down

Seemingly every time the camera shows Elly De La Cruz in the dugout since he injured his hamstring, he's had a ball in his hand and a glove on the other. There is one thing for certain: De La Cruz wants to be on the field.

During Friday's 10-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, Reds reporter Jim Day provided an update on De La Cruz's recovery.

"He's on the trip, John," Day said. "Sitting in the dugout last time I saw. "The hardest part of his rehab so far, they said it's going well by the way, is holding him back, like keeping the thoroughbred in the stall. He is raring to keep going, but it's such a touchy issue with the hamstring, you teeter on the edge of if we let him go to early, then he injures it and is out for an extended period of time. They want to make sure that when they let him go and turn him loose, that it is for good."

As we've seen over the last two series, the Reds are going to struggle without De La Cruz. With that being said, they absolutely cannot afford to rush him back and have him miss more time than he's already scheduled to miss. The Reds are playing the long game with De La Cruz's hamstring injury, as they should be.

Terry Francona Ejected on Friday Night

May 31, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona (77) watches from the dugout during the game against the Atlanta Braves at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images | Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

There was a bizarre play in the first inning on Friday's loss that ended up costing the Reds a pair of runs, when at the time they were leading 3-0.

A soft grounder was hit to Spencer Steer, who threw it over to Sal Stewart for the out, or one assumed was the third out of the inning. However, the first base umpire said Stewart pulled his foot off the bag. Stewart immediately waved to the dugout and told them to challenge the call, which they did.

Although it certainly looked like Stewart's foot was on the bag, they call on the field stood as called.

Reds manager Terry Francona came out to argue, which is an immediate ejection if you argue the result of a challenge.

After the game, Francona was asked about it.

“The longer I waited, I was getting madder and madder…I still think he was out. I got a picture that shows him on the bag.”

It was a bizarre play, but it sure looked like Stewart had his foot on the bag. You can see Francona's full postgame comments below:

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