Reds’ shortstop De La Cruz looks to cut down on strikeouts
Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, and the crowd started chanting his name. Most of the Reds players on the bench moved up to the top step of the dugout, and first baseman Christian Encarnacion-strand leaped onto the rail and pounded on it to cheer on his teammate.
On Friday against the New York Mets, when the Reds were down by a run, De La Cruz had a chance to deliver an unforgettable moment. He didn't take his bat off his shoulder and struck out on four pitches.
The Reds eventually lost 3-2. “You want to get a pitch you can put a good swing on in that situation,” Reds manager David Bell said. “Elly didn't get that pitch he was looking for.”
For the 22-year-old shortstop with as much talent as anyone in baseball, finding his pitch has been the elusive next step.
Through the first 105 games of De La Cruz's career, he has struck out 158 times in 416 at-bats.
“He's a super talent,” Reds catcher Luke Maile said. “Everyone knows that. His game is only going to get more and more polished as he moves on. We're in
his corner 100%. We've all been there. We know what it's like to be a young player. There are going to be mistakes. There will even be mistakes with veteran guys. He just needs to keep doing what he's doing.”
The next step for De La Cruz is cutting down on his strikeouts, and he has been working on that since the start of the offseason when he changed his swing to be more balanced and fluid. The idea was that De La Cruz could become a more versatile hitter.
But De La Cruz, who made an incredibly
quick rise through the Reds' farm system, is still ironing out the balance between being an aggressive hitter and being a hitter with good plate discipline.
“It's interesting,” Bell said. “The psychology of that is actually you have to be more aggressive. You have to be really ready to hit so that when you get your pitch, you're able to not miss it or be able to put it in play. That's all part of his growth. And he's definitely working hard and listening and learning every day. I think he's right on track.”