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By Zach Pressnell
Contributing Sports Writer
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Cincinnati Reds superstar shortstop Elly De La Cruz was electric in 2024. He led the league in stolen bases as he swiped 67 bases on 83 attempts. The switch-hitting shortstop also posted a.809 OPS with 71 extra-base hits.
Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter recently projected De La Cruz to lead the Reds in home runs this year. Reuter predicted the young Cincinnati star would slug 30 home runs, five more than he hit a year ago.
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"De La Cruz put up big average exit velocity (91.8 mph, 88th percentile) and max exit velocity (114.7 mph) numbers last year while slugging 25 home runs in 160 games," Reuter wrote. "The next step in his development is cutting down a 31.3 percent strikeout rate, and if he can get that to a more manageable level, the first 30-homer season of his career should follow."
While Reuter expects De La Cruz to take a step forward, Baseball Reference expects him to take a step backward. BR projects he'll regress across the board and only slug 21 home runs.
The 23-year-old has gotten off to a very fast start in spring training. In his first game, he homered twice in two at-bats, one from the right side of the plate and one from the left side. He followed that up with a rocket single off Los Angeles Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow in the next game.
With Francona at the helm, confidence couldn't be any higher in Cincinnati. The new skipper has already said multiple times how talented he thinks De La Cruz is and how good he thinks the young star can be in the league.
If all the pieces come together, he might slug more than 30 home runs in 2025.
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