Elly De La Cruz Showed Signs of a Breakthrough Toward End of 2023 Season

The young star was figuring it out over the final month of the 2023 season.

Elly De La Cruz is one of the most electric players in baseball. He showed why he's the most exciting player on the Reds' roster throughout the 2023 season. 

Despite his electrifying start and the impact he made, it's easy to look at his batting average from last season and wonder if he can be trusted.

De La Cruz played 98 games and compiled a .235 batting average. He began his career as hot as a supernova but ended the season on quite a cold stretch. During the final 38 games of the season, he posted a .191 average. If that is where you stop your analysis, then you'll miss the sign of a turnaround.

He's aggressive with his swings of the bat. It doesn't take a deep dive into his performance to know that he needs more discipline at the plate. When you dive into the numbers you'll see it: he already is improving his chase rate.

In his first 60 games of the season, De La Cruz was swinging away. He offered at 39.7% of the pitches he saw outside the strike zone. This led to a 34.2% strikeout rate during that stretch. That's a number that needs to come down. Oddly enough, during the last 38 games of the season where he hit .191, he really cut back on swinging at pitches outside the zone. 

The biggest sign that De La Cruz gave us that a turnaround is coming is the fact he swung at just 28.2% of pitches outside the strike zone in the final 38 games of the season. That is am 11.5% decrease. He still made contact with just over 60% of those swings, so he literally just cut back on the amount of pitches he chased.

With that you may be wondering why his batting average was so rough during that stretch. To that point, De La Cruz had a "Batting Average on Balls in Play" of 85 points less than he had during his first 60 games. BABIP largely relates to the luck of the draw for the player, so he was unlucky at times.

With an increase in plate discipline, De La Cruz will be a dangerous hitter on a more consistent basis. 

Consistency is the next big hurdle for him to overcome. As much as he can win the Reds a game with his bat, his glove, or his legs, it just doesn't happen consistently.

He showed an ability to lay off pitches outside the zone is step one to a more consistent approach at the plate. That will transform De La Cruz into the top player we all see him becoming.

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