In a move that was surely 100 percent intentional, the Cincinnati Reds waited until after their three-game set against the Milwaukee Brewers to promote their top prospect, Elly De La Cruz.
The addition of De La Cruz to the club’s everyday starting lineup would have helped the Reds out tremendously as they just finished wrapping up a series loss against the Brewers in which Milwaukee took two of out three. On Friday, the final score of 10-8 represented the most runs the Reds were able to score against the Crew as the Brewers’ pitching staff was in dominant form on Sunday and Monday.
Of course, even without De La Cruz, the Reds still found another young top prospect to insert into the plans in left-hander Andrew Abbott, who promptly dominated the Brewers on Monday, pitching six innings of one hit, shutout ball with six strikeouts in his big league debut.
Elly De La Cruz finding out he’s going to the big leagues pic.twitter.com/O8VxYbYydx
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 6, 2023
Entering the 2023 campaign, De La Cruz ranked as the No. 4 prospect in all of baseball and was easily the top ranked youngster in the Reds’ farm system. The 21-year-old began the year in Triple-A for the Reds’ Louisville Bats affiliate and was annihilating the opposition through 38 games.
Prior to his promotion, De La Cruz hit 11 doubles and 12 home runs, drove in 36 while scoring 38 runs of his own, stole 11 bases and had an OPS of 1.031, which is well above league-average, even in the big leagues. On defense, he primarily calls shortstop his home, but he also has plenty of experience under his belt at both second and third base. He is slated to start Tuesday’s game at third for his MLB debut against the Dodgers.
At 27-33 on the season, the Reds could use all the help they can get from some of their youngsters down on the farm. The team is already an extremely young one, built around a group of players in their mid-20’s like Matt McLain, Jonathan India, Tyler Stephenson, Graham Ashcraft and Hunter Greene, so adding a player like De La Cruz could be a huge payoff for their active roster. This lack of big league experience could play in the favor of their division rival Brewers as they continue to (somehow) fight for the top spot in the NL Central.
Follow me on Twitter at @ETreuden and follow us @WiSportsHeroics for more great content. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in Wisconsin sports, click here! Also, check out our merch store for some amazing WSH merchandise!