One of the overarching lessons of this Cincinnati Reds’ season is how important Elly De La Cruz is to the team.
The Reds had their worst stretch of the year in early June when he was on the injured list with a hamstring injury. Out of necessity, he has stepped into the leadoff spot at the end of June and has given the Reds strong production there since then. It feels like the offense is dependent on big games from De La Cruz and Sal Stewart, and a slump from De La Cruz for a 10-game stretch in August coincided with a bad stretch for the entire offense.
The Reds ask for a lot out of De La Cruz.
“He’s a great player,” Terry Francona said.
When spring training started, De La Cruz was locked into the No. 3 spot in the lineup. He moved up to second in the order in May when the Reds moved down Matt McLain. Then in June, with TJ Friedl having a poor season and Blake Dunn on the injured list, De La Cruz moved up to the leadoff spot.
It’s not ideal for the lineup construction, but De La Cruz has done his part at the top of the order over the last few months.
“Truthfully, I’d prefer him not to be (hitting leadoff),” Francona said. “I’m not taking a shot at him. He can hit anywhere he wants. He’s good. I don’t know that right now we have a guy who we feel like could do that every day. When him and Sal (Stewart) don’t get hits, it gets pretty glaring for us. That’s a big load for them. Not altogether fair.”
Before moving to the leadoff spot, De La Cruz had 38 RBI in 61 games. Since moving to the leadoff spot, he has 19 RB in 45 games.
“There are arguments to and against,” Francona said. “He’s going to hit more times (when he’s at the top of the order), but he might hit with less men on base.”
He hit .083 between Aug. 7 through the first game on Monday’s doubleheader. Over that 10-game stretch, the Reds scored three runs or fewer seven times and scored one run or fewer five times. During that stretch, Francona said that De La Cruz was too far out in front of the ball. Without De La Cruz’s spark at the plate, the entire offense suffered. He also started making mistakes on some routine throws.
Despite those struggles, Francona didn’t give De La Cruz a day off.
“We don’t have a lot of flexibility,” Francona said. “If I feel like he needs one, he’ll get one.”
De La Cruz did get time off when he was on the IL in June.
De La Cruz has been the DH four times this year, including Game 2 of Monday’s doubleheader. But there’s a difference between a DH day and an off day.
“In a doubleheader, I think (a DH day) is good for a guy,” Francona said. “(But) there’s something to be said on a day game after a night game, knowing you’re not playing. You can unplug a bit. That does help. Me and Nick (Krall) were talking about it, maybe last night or the night before. A good day would be Thursday here. We were talking. I said, ‘Except that you give a guy a day off and then sit him on a plane for five hours.’”
The Reds head to Arizona on Thursday night after this series against the Cardinals wraps up.
Outside of his time on the IL in June, De La Cruz has been in the lineup every day all season. He also played in 162 games in 2025, and his only time out of the starting lineup was when he was getting back from his sister’s funeral.
Francona said that De La Cruz might get an off day this year, but the approach is different than what the initial plan was in the offseason when Francona said, “I need to find ways to get him off his feet.”
On Monday, to get De La Cruz into the DH spot, Stewart had to play second base for the first time since May. Without Spencer Steer, the Reds don’t have a utility player on the roster. It would have been easier to give De La Cruz a day off when Edwin Arroyo was on the active roster, but Arroyo has been in Triple-A since July 30. Matt McLain has also been in the lineup every single day since he returned from the IL without a day off.
The Reds have needed De La Cruz in the mix every day.
“When you make out the lineup and you don’t put Elly in it… we’re doing the best we can,” Francona said.
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The Reds optioned Noelvi Marte to Triple-A and called up catcher Will Banfield.
Marte has had an incredibly disappointing season. In August of 2025, he looked like the Reds’ best player and earned his way into the No. 2 spot in the lineup. He hasn’t performed at that level in the big leagues since then.
“He has all of the tools to be an every day player,” Francona said. “Saying that, when you’re playing every day, you have to find a way to help your team win. It’s not just getting hits. It’s playing the position. It’s being accountable for so many different things. He was having a tough time, by his own admission.”
During spring training this year, Marte met with the coaches, who told him, “It was time for him to get going.” The hope was that this “nudge” would remind Marte of the importance of playing with attention to detail.
He ended spring training on a positive note, but then his game really dropped off when the season started. The Reds optioned him to Triple-A incredible quickly into the season (April 13).
After a couple of good months in Triple-A, where Marte focused on improving his pitch selection, he was called back up in June. The early returns for him during the summer weren’t great, but there were signs and he had some moments. Then his game dropped off in July. It dropped off even further in August. Old bad habits at the plate returned, his defense wasn’t reliable and he wasn’t doing enough of the little things.
Marte was benched for four games last week and returned to the lineup over the weekend. He didn’t show improvement. The next step was optioning him to Triple-A.
“We asked him how he thought it was going,” Francona said. “He said, ‘Not very well.’ I said, ‘This is kind of a pivotal time for you. Don’t just go down — he’s probably going to find ways to get hits in Triple-A. You’ve got to play with some urgency and get after it.’”
Francona offered a few specific ways to do that.
“Be the first one out there, don’t be the last one out there,” Francona said. “Take charge in the outfield. Things like that.”
This lost season from Marte, who has a -1.4 WAR and a .550 OPS, is a real hit to the Reds. Instead of a pillar in their core, he turned into a question mark who hasn’t been able to stick on the big league roster.
It’ll be good to get a look at Banfield, but there were other ways to get him onto the active roster on Tuesday. The fact that Marte had to be sent down was a reminder of how poorly his season has gone.
With Marte now in Louisville, Héctor Rodríguez looks to be the Reds’ primary right fielder with Dane Myers in center and JJ Bleday in left. Michael Toglia, who barely played the outfield in Louisville this year but made some starts in the big leagues in the outfield over the last week and held his own, should also be in the mix, especially against left-handed pitching. TJ Friedl, hitless since the All-Star break, backs up Myers in center field.
Friedl still having a roster spot at this point is criminal.
Krall has staked his reputation as the REDS' personnel chief on some guys who have been overall failures so far for Cincy: MM, Marte, Friedl, Hinds, CES, Benson and Hayes, and a few that the jury is still out on: Arroyo, HRod, BWilliamson, Petty, Phillips, and some others who don't come to mind.
Steer has been average good, which is a plus for the REDS, which is a below average team.
The REDS' FO and development team have been overall failures this rebuild. I mean "dart throwing" might render better results!