Elly De La Cruz Not Changing Positions, Cemented as Cincinnati Reds' Shortstop of the Future

De La Cruz was third in Major League Baseball with 15 outs above average.

Greg Kuffner | Oct 8, 2024

Sep 24, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz (44) dives for the ball in the seventh inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images / David Richard-Imagn Images

In this story:

Cincinnati Reds

Elly De La Cruz is the Reds' shortstop of the present and future. The All-Star is not moving positions this offseason according to Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

De La Cruz led Major League Baseball with 29 errors this season. Despite that, he was also third in outs above average, which is the cumulative effect of all individual plays a fielder has been credited or debited with, making it a range-based metric of fielding skill that accounts for the number of plays made and the difficulty of them.

The Reds introduced manager Terry Francona on Monday and now we know De La Cruz will remain at shortstop in 2025.

Some Reds notes

-All three hitting coaches (Joel McKeithan, Terry Bradshaw and Tim Lamonte) have been fired.
-Budget meetings for 2025 are at the end of October, which will shape steps this offseason
-Matt McLain is open to moving around positions, including third base and CF.…
— Charlie Goldsmith (@CharlieG__) October 8, 2024