Eli de la Cruz is no longer a starter for the Cincinnati Reds. We’ve known that for sure since head coach Terry Francona took over and his superstar is now in the lineup at No. 3 every day.
Elie has 67 snaps on the season at just 22 years old, and entering his age-24 season in 2026, he has 139 snaps in 420 career games. Although he played most of the second half of 2025 with a quadriceps injury that clearly diminished his ability to get on base in the first place and Additional bases will be needed once you get there.
advertise
It’s a bit of a dichotomy, especially when you consider the tendency of former manager David Bell and Tito to want his runners to be more cautious and calculated on their takeoffs. This is a fluid situation, and I thought it was worth asking you, the fine readers of Red Report, if you think Elie will have another 50+ steal season in 2026.
In a landslide vote, you’d think he did.
Healthy quads will certainly help Elly, who still managed 37 swings in a miserable 2025 campaign. Presumably there will also be more sluggers in the lineup behind him every day, as guys like Sal Stewart and Eugenio Suarez will run deeper counts, throw more pitches, and see more stalling breaking balls as pitchers try to keep the ball in the park.
advertise
Elly may have to deal with more playing time factors in 2026 than ever before. Francona has publicly spoken about trying to give Elie a few days off after he played a full 162 games last year (he looked tired and was injured a lot of the time), and even a small reduction in opportunities will obviously make it more difficult to put up stat lines in a shorter period of time. However, it could mean he’s closer to 100 percent in more races, which is enough for his turbo to reset sooner than last year.
Personally, I took over here too. I think Elly has 50+ steals in these seasons and we’ll be looking back at this rule in 2025.
MLB Reacts is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook.
