Good morning, afternoon, or evening. Whenever it is for you and wherever it is for you, I’m glad you get to join us today for your class on Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz‘s 2026 season. I am your professor, and I will be guiding you through a full deep dive into his performance so far this year. Everyone, turn to page 44.
Introduction: Finding Waldo
Where is he, you may ask? If you squint just at the right angle, at the right time of the day, and with the perfect lighting, you can actually look past the mountain of headaches in Cincinnati and spot the elite play of De La Cruz. At a time of extreme turmoil and uncertainty, Elly has been elite, keeping the team above water as everyone else fell asleep with the paddle in their lap.
Understanding What We’re Witnessing from Elly De La Cruz
Imagine you wake up one morning. The sun is shining, and the breeze is flowing into your room. Life is simple. Life is beautiful. You decide to make a coffee before starting your day, and you scroll on social media for a bit. All of a sudden…you see it. You set the phone down. You forget where you are. You can’t smell the Arabica medium roast coffee beans brewing right next to you. You clutch your arm on the kitchen island for support as you feel faint.
“Elly De La Cruz is on pace for the most WAR by a Red in a single season since Joe Morgan in 1976?”
A Quick Step Back Into Reds History
Excuse me! Excursion with me, if you please. The year is 1976. An American movie about boxing is in theatres? Cool. The Montreál Canadiens won another Stanley Cup? Cool. We’re in Cincinnati. We go to a bar before a Reds game, and some chappy old man starts telling us about his favorite player.
In 1976, Joe Morgan had one of the greatest seasons in MLB history. He recorded 9.5 bWAR, had a 184 wRC+, slashed .320/.444/.576, earning him the latter of his back-to-back MVP awards in 1975 and 1976.
Back to the F…Present
Thanks for allowing me the pleasure of taking you back to 1976 for a brief moment. Now, back to modern days. Hopefully, the excursion provided context for just how good De La Cruz has been so far this year for him to be compared to Morgan’s 1976 season.
Elly De La Cruz absolutely demolishes one the other way 🤯 pic.twitter.com/UgNrtuQhUD
— MLB (@MLB) May 17, 2026
In 47 games this year, De La Cruz is slashing .302/.364/.540 for a .906 OPS and a 147 wRC+. For the old heads, he already has 11 home runs, 35 runs batted in, 31 runs batted in, and nine stolen bases. With 2.6 fWAR, again, he’s on track to accumulate the most WAR in a single season since Morgan’s historic 1976. It’s undeniable! We went back to 1976 to confirm it. You whispered to me during the “Rocky” movie, “Oh my, Joe Morgan’s so good.”
“How’s Elly doing this?” you ask. May you never lose your curiosity, kiddo, just make sure you raise your hand next time. Anyway, here’s why.
The Mechanic’s Shop
Your car broke down! You must go to the mechanic. They pop open your hood and say, “Alright, let’s see what the under-the-hood numbers are looking like for Elly De La Cruz.” You tilt your head sideways and think, “How can that help with my car?”, but you carry on as you’re curious. Apologies if you are colorblind, as you will be unable to tell, but De La Cruz’s batted ball data on Baseball Savant are almost all bright red (good).
.378 xwOBA – 87th percentile
.285 xBA – 87th percentile
.522 xSLG – 91st percentile
94.2 Avg Exit Velo – 97th percentile
15.5 Barrel% – 90th percentile
52.6 Hard-Hit% – 93rd percentile
74.8 Bat Speed – 82nd percentile
25.4 Chase% – 73rd percentile
27.3 K% – 22nd percentile
8.6 BB% – 42nd percentile
A Twist and a Turn
The numbers above are fascinating, not only because of how well De La Cruz is doing at the plate. Everyone has seen the criticism circling social media about his strikeouts and overall inability to make contact. While the jokes were extremely overblown, his strikeout and whiff numbers were definitely a cause for concern. Due to his speed, many wanted him to have a more contact-oriented offensive game. However, standing at 6’ 6”, 200 pounds, slugging the ball was clearly the better way to go rather than small ball.
The idea was that De La Cruz would naturally progress into a more patient hitter at the plate, cutting down on the strikeouts and increasing the walk numbers. Surprisingly, though, De La Cruz’s K% and BB% have remained largely untouched, but he’s slugging the ball like never before. In an interesting development, De La Cruz has (seemingly) become an elite hitter while maintaining a high K% and average BB%.
Defense Wins Championships
If someone next to you has whispered any criticism regarding De La Cruz’s defense during this lecture, please point at them, and I will remove them from this lecture hall. His defense has looked sharp all year based on the eye test and the numbers. His arm strength has remained elite (89th percentile), no doubt assisting on his 5 OAA (97th percentile) and 0 DRS.
His routine throws to first base have been better (although it probably helps having stallion Sal Stewart at first base rather than 5’ 9” Spencer Steer). He has been great at ranging to his right and throwing across his body. His hands have looked softer, removing some of the clunky fielding plays that resulted in an E6 in previous years.
Key Takeaway
If you take just one thing from this lecture, let it be this. The world is divided for us into two parts: one is he, where there is all happiness, hope, light; the other is where he is not, and there is dejection and darkness.
Unless you have been napping and drooling over your textbooks, it’s evident that the ‘he’ I’m referring to is Elly De La Cruz. From 20-11, atop the NL Central to now 20-20, it doesn’t take a genius to decipher that the Reds have been a bad baseball team. Without De La Cruz, there is dejection and darkness. With him, there is happiness, hope, and light.
Main Photo Credit: © Frank Bowen IV/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
