Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz played all 162 games in the 2025 season, marking the first time a Reds player achieved that since Joey Votto in 2017. Despite a quadriceps strain and personal tragedy, De La Cruz posted solid stats but showed second-half struggles. The team is discussing ways to manage his workload moving forward.
Elly De La Cruz, the 23-year-old switch-hitting shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds, demonstrated remarkable durability in 2025 by appearing in all 162 games, including 161 starts. This feat made him the first Reds player to play every game in a season since Joey Votto did so in 2017. De La Cruz battled a nagging left quadriceps strain throughout much of the year but refused to miss time, stating via translator Tomas Vera on Sept. 30 during the National League Wild Card Series against the Dodgers, "If I feel like I can go out there and play, I'm good."
The season was not without challenges. De La Cruz endured the tragic loss of his sister, Genelis, on May 31, yet honored her memory by hitting a home run against the Cubs the following day. He missed only one start due to a canceled flight returning from her funeral in the Dominican Republic. Manager Terry Francona occasionally used De La Cruz as the designated hitter for partial rest, such as in an 8-4 win at Detroit on June 15, where he went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs. Francona later joked, "I found out a good way to really piss him off. I told him, ‘I think you’d make a good DH.’ I think I heard some Spanish curse words."
Statistically, De La Cruz improved slightly from 2024, batting .264 with a .776 OPS, 22 home runs, 86 RBIs, and 37 stolen bases, while reducing strikeouts to 181 from a Major League-leading 218. However, his power faded after a strong first half, with 18 homers in his first 79 games (302 at-bats) compared to just four in his final 83 games (327 at-bats). He endured a 30-game homer drought from June 24 to July 30 and a 43-game stretch from Aug. 1 to Sept. 18, posting a career-worst .575 OPS in August. Defensively, he led the Majors in errors for the second straight year with 26, including 14 in the last 64 games.
Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall acknowledged potential fatigue, saying, “Maybe he got tired toward the middle of the season, and it caught up with him. We talked about what’s the best way to deploy him moving forward, just on a daily basis.” Krall also noted defensive issues: “Obviously, he had some hiccups defensively in the second half of the season. But we have to figure out how to clean those up and get him to become a better shortstop making those routine plays.” The club has no plans to move De La Cruz from shortstop to center field.