Fastball

Elly De La Cruz Joins Hall of Famer, MVPs in Rare Group of Baseball History

The Cincinnati Reds are getting a historic effort from infielder Elly De La Cruz in the first half of the season. The second-year player is in an extremely small group of all-time greats because of his accomplishments thus far in 2024.

Brady Farkas

Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz (44) rounds the bases after hitting a two run home run against the New York Yankees during the fifth inning at Yankee Stadium on July 2.
Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz (44) rounds the bases after hitting a two run home run against the New York Yankees during the fifth inning at Yankee Stadium on July 2. / Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
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The Cincinnati Reds beat the New York Yankees on Tuesday night as shortstop Elly De La Cruz continued his historic first half.

As part of the Reds 5-4 win, De La Cruz went 2-for-5 with two runs scored, two RBI, a home run, and a triple. With that performance, he joined a small and prestigious group in baseball history.

Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

fewest games played to 15+ HR & 40+ SB in a season:

1986 Eric Davis: 75
1986 Rickey Henderson: 76
1990 Rickey Henderson: 78
2023 Ronald Acuña Jr.: 84
1985 Rickey Henderson: 84
2024 Elly De La Cruz: 85

He's hitting .254 this year with the 15 homers, 39 RBI and 40 stolen bases. He's posted an OPS of .826 at just the age of 22. Henderson is a Hall of Famer and a former MVP while Acuna Jr. won the MVP in 2023. As for Davis, he was a two-time All-Star, a Silver Slugger and a Gold Glover, so this is certainly special company for De La Cruz to be keeping.

The second-year player has also helped keep the Reds afloat in a year where they've been one of the biggest disappointments in all of baseball. They are currently 40-45 and are trying to do enough in the next few weeks to keep their team together, rather than selling at the trade deadline.

The Reds and Yankees will play again on Wednesday night with first pitch from Yankee Stadium coming at 7:05 p.m. ET. Left-hander Andrew Abbott will pitch for Cincy while Carlos Rodon will look to get back on track for the Yankees.

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Brady Farkas

BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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