HOUSTON – A few days ago when the Cincinnati Reds were playing at the ballpark where this year’s All-Star game will be played, Elly De La Cruz said it was too early to say whether this was the year he would decide to participate in the Home Run Derby.
Of course, the better question might have been whether this will be the year that nobody invites him.
Until he drove that opposite-field home run to left in the Reds’ big first inning against the Astros on Saturday night, one of the most powerful young talents in the game had morphed into a hitting version of something between Punch and Judy – torpedo bat and all.
But here’s the thing:
Not only is there intention behind that madness, but De La Cruz’s hitting coach called the return of the power the day before they released the crackin’.
“I think it happens now,” Chris Valaika said.
De La Cruz’s first home run since April 20 came the day after the coach spoke it into existence.
How? Why?
“It was an emphasis this winter,” Valaika said.
Not necessarily the May 10 home run that started the scoring in the Reds’ eventual 13-9 victory. More the approach that led to the drought and higher-end results the Reds and De La Cruz expect it to produce by the end of the season.
De La Cruz, who hit a 458-foot home run in his second big-league game and hit 25 homers during his breakout All-Star season last year, has bought into the new regime’s control-the-strike-zone approach this season that so far has resulted in less chasing – and less power.
“I’m just trying to swing at my pitch and hit the ball more often,” De La Cruz said after being asked about whether the lack of power bothered him.
“I know that’s going to be there,” he said. “I’ve just got to keep hitting the ball.”
A couple hours later, a bolt of that power showed up, just like he and his coach said.
One of the reasons the Reds believe in the plan with their young star is what he did in the 10 games following his last home run on April 20.
He was 13-for-37 with four walks, raising his batting average 32 points and his on-base percentage 40 during a stretch with just one extra-base hit (a double).
“I think it’s very encouraging to see how still productive he’s been,” Valaika said. “He’s got 25 RBIs. Granted it’s only five home runs in a month. But add that up over the course of the yaer, and that’s a 30-home run season.. That’s a pretty good season.
“With his skill set, when he’s on base he’s scoring runs, he’s stealing bases, he becomes a threat.”
For those scoring at home, make it six home runs and 29 RBIs through 41 games after Saturday’s three-run shot and run-scoring groundout in the Reds’ 13-9 victory over the Astros.
“We have to be patient with the power. We know it’s in there,” Valaika said. “He just kind of has to adjust to not living on the polars of (boom and bust).
“As he continues to mature and finds the balance in those, you’re going to see an even more special player.”
De La Cruz had longer home run droughts each of the past two seasons. But both were the products of overall slumps — a .169 stretch for 21 games last season and .157 stretch for 28 as a rookie in 2023.
Another big reason the Reds believe in the value of the reining in De La Cruz’s approach is because De La Cruz does. That includes picking spots to stalk a pitch.
Already one of the hardest-working players on the team behind the scenes, the 23-year-old also is one of the sharpest, especially for his experience level. His home run on April 20 came in that 24-2 win against a just-entered reliever who couldn’t locate his fastball. So he sat off-speed and drove a homer to right.
Saturday, Lance McCuller’s Jr. — making his first home start since the 2022 World Series because of elbow surgery — had trouble locating everything during the Reds’ 10-run first inning, with most of his pitches ranging from 85 to 90 mph.
De La Cruz picked a 1-1 changeup on the outer half of the plate to drive the other way and ignite the Reds’ big offensive night
“He’s definitely intelligent and cerebral when it comes to that,” Valaika said.
More than that, he’s been disciplined about the buy-in, which might be even more impressive.
“It’s hard,” De La Cruz said. “First, hitting is a hard thing to do. I’ve just got to stay positive every day. Doesn’t matter what happens.”
So what comes next for the dynamic, powerful De La Cruz with the slow-burn start to his 2025 season? Beyond the 100-plus-RBI pace?
That’s where Valaika’s prediction comes in.
“As teams notice that he’s controlling the zone more they’re going to have to come back into the zone, and I think that’s when the power’s going to come,” Valaika said.
What De La Cruz has done through the quarter mark of the season has been largely without the lineup protection behind him the Reds counted on getting from Tyler Stephenson and Austin Hays.
But with Stephenson a week into his return from an oblique injury and Hays back Friday from a second stint on the IL, Valaika likes De La Cruz’s chances for an imminent surge — including the return of his power game.
Right about now.
Which would not be a moment too soon for a team that is in desperate need of offensive firepower from any source.
“It could (start now),” Valaika said. “But I think our messaging to Elly is to continue to stay the course, controlling the strike zone.
“I think he’s going to pop more (homers) in a month, and we’re not going to be talking about ‘the damage isn’t there.’ “
Besides, De La Cruz has a full complement of new torpedo bats – you know, the ones that produced that 4-for-5 game with two home runs the first time he used one on March 31. He even got a new shipment of pink ones for Mother’s Day.
He’s still like the style and is committed to it, he said, which actually might suggest even more reason for observers to wonder where the power went.
“It’s not the bat,” De La Cruz said with a laugh. “It’s the not like you use the torpedo and you’re going to hit a home run every time.
“You’ve still got to hit it.”
Just ask McCullers.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Release the crackin’? Why Cincinnati Reds hitting coach saw Elly De La Cruz home run coming
Reporting by Gordon Wittenmyer, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
