2025 Fantasy Baseball: Elly De La Cruz Profile, Preview, Predictions

Cincinnati Reds SS Elly De La Cruz
Cincinnati Reds SS Elly De La Cruz / David Banks-Imagn Images
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Elly De La Cruz is currently the second shortstop being drafted in the high-stakes fantasy baseball market following Bobby Witt Jr. De La Cruz is entering his third MLB season and is poised to be a cornerstone of winning fantasy baseball rosters. De La Cruz is ready to run wild! Let's take a deeper dive.

SS Elly De La Cruz (ADP – 4.2)

2025 Elly De La Cruz Hitting Stats Profile
2025 Elly De La Cruz Hitting Stats Profile / Shawn Childs

As expected, De La Cruz whiffed like a champ in his sophomore campaign. He led the National League in strikeouts (218 – 31.3%) but avoided a disaster batting average (.259) by posting an elite contact batting average (.400) that was below his minor league resume (.438). His walk rate (9.9) beat his minor league career (8.2%). De La Cruz led the majors in stolen bases (67) and caught stealing (16).

His best stats last season came in April (.279/27/8/19/18 over 104 at-bats), helping fantasy teams jump out of the starting box. He gave back his gains in May (.208 with 10 runs, one home run, and five RBIs over 101 at-bats) other than stolen bases (14). Over the following three months, De La Cruz was an edge in all five categories (.276/53/13/37/29 over 315 at-bats). His bat was weaker against lefties (.224 with 22 runs, six home runs, 20 RBIs, and 23 stolen bases).

De La Cruz ranked 28th in exit velocity (91.9 mph) and 57th in hard-hit rate (45.7). Even with strength in his HR/FB rate (19.1), his launch angle (9.7 – 174th) is trailing in his development. He hit fewer groundballs (46.3% - 53.9%) last season, with a bump to 33% for his fly-ball rate.

Fantasy Outlook: De La Cruz finished fifth in FPGscore (9.50) for hitters last year. With an improved swing path and a lower strikeout rate, his ceiling in power and batting average would be much higher. He wants to run, and his overall skill set is excellent. I’ll set his bar at .270 with 100+ runs, 30+ home runs, 85+ RBIs, and a floor of 50 stolen bases. His desire to steal could lead to over 80 bags in 2025.

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Shawn Childs
SHAWN CHILDS

With 20+ years of experience in the high-stakes fantasy market, I aim to research and compete at the highest level in baseball and football each season. I've contributed as a writer/analyst for Sports Draft Daily, ScoutPro, Scout Fantasy, Fulltime Fantasy, FFToolbox, and Sports Illustrated Fantasy. I'm honored to be in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship Hall of Fame. My drafting philosophy is risk-averse yet open to betting on potential game-changers. I approach player selection with a neutral perspective, acknowledging that fantasy sports are inherently unpredictable due to injuries, performance dips, and managerial decisions. My work focuses on these main areas: - Season-long fantasy baseball and football - BestBall Baseball and Football Events - Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS): DraftKings, FanDuel, and Underdog - Long Shot Player Prop Parlays for NFL I participate in various leagues and contests, including NFBC, NFFC, RTSports, FFPC, DraftKings, Underdog Fantasy, FanDuel, and FFWC, with the goal of leveraging my extensive experience and research for success in each game format. A fantasy follower can expect in-depth profiles of NFL and MLB players, along with season-long and weekly projections for each fantasy football season. In addition, I have many strategy articles to help develop fantasy players' learning curves.