Reds and Royals Shortstop Showdown: Bobby Witt Jr. and Elly De La Cruz

Superstar shortstops Elly De La Cruz and Bobby Witt Jr. are set to go head-to-head in Cincinnati.

Austin Elmore | Aug 16, 2024

Jun 12, 2023; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Cincinnati Reds third baseman Elly De La Cruz (44) talks with Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (7) during the eighth inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports / Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

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CINCINNATI — Two of Major League Baseball’s brightest ascending stars will square off against one another this weekend at Great American Ball Park.

Elly De La Cruz, the superstar Reds shortstop that’s starting to garner National League MVP conversation, and Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals, who is a bonafide contender for the American League MVP award.

Will Shohei Ohtani be crowned NL MVP for the first time? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/hhVOiyLWX2
— MLB (@MLB) August 13, 2024

Both shortstops made the All-Star team for the first time in their careers earlier this summer, and both possess a rare combination of power, speed, and athleticism that make them among the most exciting players in baseball to watch.

The two met last season at Kauffman Stadium, a three-game series the Reds swept. You may remember that series for the memorable Ricky Karcher save, but Witt Jr. was a thorn in the side of the Reds for those three games.

Some impressive numbers from Ricky Karcher's debut: pic.twitter.com/0fC8DDbKgY
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) June 13, 2023

He homered, walked three times, drove in three runs, hit .364 in the series and recorded an on-base percentage of .500 in 14 plate appearances.

Those three wins for the Reds were wins number three, four, and five in the season-altering 12-game win streak that helped the Reds and De La Cruz explode onto the national scene.

It was a tough series for De La Cruz, though. He was hitless in 13 plate appearances and walked just once. He did steal two bases and score a run, but his bat was quiet in all three games.

This season, things are much different. De La Cruz is among the best hitters in baseball, improving in almost every major statistical category, and Witt Jr. is even better as he currently leads the big leagues in batting average and is third in OBP.

Excited for this matchup this weekend at GABP. #Reds pic.twitter.com/TyegPB7l6H
— Austin Elmore (@autyelmore) August 14, 2024

Witt Jr. has been in the league since 2022, when he played 150 games in his debut season. He has more experience than De La Cruz, and certainly an advantage in 2024’s stats, but the two of them have combined for 18 triples and 84 stolen bases so far this season.

While both of them are having MVP-caliber seasons, what’s really intriguing is their splits. At home this season, Witt Jr. has been nearly unstoppable. He has a slash line of .403/.456/.728. That's good for a 1.184 OPS in 63 home games this season.

It’s a much different story when he’s on the road, where he’s slashing .293/.335/.494. That's still very good, but a significant drop off from what he's done in Kansas City. Witt Jr. enters this series on fire, though. In his last 30 games, he's homered 10 times, has 31 RBI, and is hitting .433 with just 17 strikeouts in 120 at-bats.

Meanwhile, De La Cruz is the opposite—he's struggled in his last seven games. He has 15 strikeouts in his last 30 at-bats and has just seven hits in that stretch. This comes after a scorching hot month of July for De La Cruz, where he slashed .299/.378/.552.

De La Cruz is actually a better hitter on the road when it comes to batting average. At Great American Ball Park he's hitting .258, which is worse than his .268 average on the road. Just about every other stat is identical on the road and at home for De La Cruz.

The Reds and Royals have found themselves in the thick of a playoff hunt, with every game a high-stakes matchup from here on out. Entering play Friday, the Reds are in second place in the National League Central, trailing the Milwaukee Brewers by nine games. They are just four games out of the final NL Wild Card spot.

Kansas City enters play at 66-55 and two games ahead of the Boston Red Sox for the final Wild Card Spot in the American League, but they have struggled as of late, losing six of their last 10 games.

All this means that this weekends series will be filled with meaningful baseball at Great American Ball Park, with two of the games brightest young stars battling it out.

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