Reds Elly De La Cruz to hold shortstop position in upcoming 2024 season new infield strategy

The Cincinnati Reds’ infield puzzle for the upcoming season has started to take shape, with one piece firmly in place: Elly De La Cruz at shortstop. The 22-year-old player will be more fixed in this position, while other players will be moving around. 

This decision comes as the Reds have more everyday-type infielders than positions available, necessitating flexibility and adaptability from the team.

De La Cruz’s appointment at shortstop is part of a broader strategy by the Reds to optimize their infield. Reds target Matt McLain, who played both shortstop and second base last season, for second base. The incumbent second baseman, Jonathan India, will need to be flexible.

Going into it, Elly is going to play a lot of short. Matt’s going to play a lot of second, and then everything else we got to kind of let it play out a little. We’ve already talked to Jonathan about playing multiple positions. Matt would be more mainly second, a little bit of short. 

Defensive considerations drive the decision to place De La Cruz at shortstop and McLain at second base. Since his debut in 2021, India has ranked poorly in advanced metrics. The middle-infield combo of De La Cruz and McLain should be an upgrade.

De La Cruz’s performance and future prospects

De La Cruz made a significant impact when he arrived last June. He delivered some of the Reds’ most electric moments of 2023. However, most of these came during his first month in the big leagues.

De La Cruz batted .325 with a .887 OPS over his first 30 games and then .191 with a .627 OPS over the final 68 games. Despite this, he led the team with 35 steals and showed promise as a switch-hitter.

However, towards the end of the season, a decline was observed in De La Cruz’s performance, both offensively and defensively.

He was gassed· You could see he was gassed· Elly is a good example of what happened towards the end of last year with guys· Guys got tired at the end of last year· They didn’t understand what it was like to play more than six games without an off-day because they didn’t have to do it in the Minor Leagues. 

In response to this, the Reds have taken proactive steps to improve De La Cruz’s performance. He did not play winter ball. However, the Reds sent hitting coach Joel McKeithan to his home in the Dominican Republic to work on mechanical changes.

We’ve lessened some of his leg kick at the plate. We’ve made a couple changes like that.

These changes are expected to help De La Cruz maintain his performance throughout the season.

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