Terry Francona, on a podcast earlier this week, was asked about Elly De La Cruz defense & all of his errors. The Reds have a lot of questions on their team currently, and one that, justifiably after his 2025 production, is being asked is will Elly De La Cruz stick at Shortshop? Tito answered that one boldly. “Gotta clean it up.” Subscribe to our Newsletter by using the popup or the form below!
Elly De La Cruz’s error count & defensive issues
Elly De La Cruz is a 6’5″, slender, but super athletic kid. Asking a guy that’s 6’5″ to play a good shortstop is quite the ask… there has only been two shortshops above 6’5″ to play that position. One got moved to the outfield last year where he still plays, and the other? Well, he’s leading the league in errors. Elly De La Cruz.
The Reds are looking to get tenfold better defensively in 2026, it’s why they went out and ‘ignorantly’ acquired Ke’Bryan Hayes at the deadline. It’s why they played a struggling Matt McLain all year without giving him time off. It’s why they’re looking for a left fielder in free agency. They know Elly De La Cruz’s production defensively at SS is not scalable, but they’ve got no choice, at least for now.
De La Cruz commit 26 errors in 2025, not only the most at shortshop, it was the most errors in Major League Baseball. Yes – it’s a ginormous problem. Yes – internally, it’s being discussed. But it’s not the discussions you’d hope to hear, it’s the opposite. The Reds aren’t even remotely thinking of moving Elly off of shortshop, but another year like 2025, and that conversation will have to be had.
Oneil Cruz’s Move to CF
Oneil Cruz, the guy we cited above being the only other player above 6’5″ to play the position but now has since moved to the outfield, didn’t have an easy going to start either. It’s hard to move positions. His offense dropped off, and he was not, and still really – is not a good defender in CF. Now, him & Elly are different athletes. I think Elly has him edged out there. I do truly believe Elly De La Cruz would be great in the outfield, but I don’t think the Reds will make the move unless truly desperate. They aren’t there yet.
Francona Leaning On Benavides For Results
Terry Francona is leaning on Freddy Benavides, the Reds assistant manager, to get Elly De La Cruz right defensively. Benavides has been with the Reds for a very long time and is credited by many for their defensive strides. The Reds are hoping they can get even more out of De La Cruz in 2026, and if they’re going to be any good, they will have to. He should come into Spring completely healthy. We found out late in the year he was nursing a quad injury – that likely was contributing to a lot of his defensive woes.
What is frustrating about Elly De La Cruz defensively is that one day he’ll make a play that literally makes you say, “WHAT?! How the hell did he do that!?” and then not even a week later, he’ll let a ball go right through his legs, or will make one of the worst throws to first base that you’ve ever seen. The potential is there – it truly is. He can be a gold glove caliber SS, even at his size, but to get there he has to focus. All too often he looks lazy and lackadaisical in the field, and that has to change.
He Isn’t Moving From SS.
If you haven’t grasped it by now, the Cincinnati Reds have absolutely zero plans to move Elly De La Cruz off of Shortshop right now. I’m not so sure they ever will, they’ve learned after the mistake they made moving Nick Senzel around early on in his career before he was an established Major Leaguer. It won’t happen again. Elly De La Cruz will be playing the 6 for your Redlegs in 2026.
