SANTO DOMINGO.— The surprising drop in performance of Dominican Elly De La Cruz during the 2025 season already has an explanation. Cincinnati Reds President of Baseball Operations, Nick Krall, revealed that the shortstop played the second half of the schedule with a partial quadriceps tear, an injury he had been dealing with since the end of July.
The wear and tear was clearly reflected in his defensive numbers: he went from +14 Outs Above Average (OAA) in 2024 (fifth among all shortstops) to –3 OAA in the 2025 campaign. His offense was also affected, with his worst slugging percentages of the year in August (.319) and September (.370). Despite the injury, De La Cruz played in all 162 games of the team, showing remarkable physical endurance and commitment.“At the end of July I was dealing with a partial tear in my quadriceps. He has been rehabilitating all winter,” explained the executive on the Reds Hot Stove podcast. “Even so, he played every day and tried to hold on.”
Full recovery expected by 2026
The Reds are confident that the Dominican will be completely healthy for Spring Training, with the goal of resuming the upward trend he had shown until mid-2025.Looking ahead to next season, one of the unknowns will be whether Cincinnati will modify its game plan, giving it more days off or even evaluating positional changes in order to maintain its health and offensive impact. Source: MlB.“If you look at where he was before he got injured, he was improving a lot defensively. He just couldn’t finish the year in the same way,” Krall added.
