Cincinnati Reds Star Elly De La Cruz Breaks Monthly Home Run, Stolen Base Record

Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz has been posting eye-popping highlights and gaudy numbers all season long, and it all came to a head Monday night against the San Diego Padres.

The Reds came away with a comfortable 5-2 win in the series opener, sparked by De La Cruz's solo home run in the first inning. He came up empty in his following three trips to the plate, but the young stud had already made history.

De La Cruz's homer was his eighth in April. Although he did not steal a base Monday, he has 17 so far this month.

According to MLB.com's Sarah Langs, De La Cruz is the first MLB player since at least 1901 to post that many home runs and stolen bases in a single calendar month.

On the season, De La Cruz is batting .280 with eight home runs, 19 RBI, 18 stolen bases and a .980 OPS. FanDuel Sportsbook is giving De La Cruz the fourth-best odds to win NL MVP at plus-1500, signifying quite the leap for the rising star.

De La Cruz was a Statcast legend from the moment he reached the majors in 2023. He was hitting the ball as hard as anyone, throwing the ball as fast as anyone and running faster than anyone in the league.

The former top prospect was inconsistent, however, and he lost out on starts because of his shortfalls. De La Cruz ended the season batting .235 with a .710 OPS and 0.8 WAR, in addition to 144 strikeouts in just 98 appearances.

De La Cruz is still striking out at a decently high rate in 2024 – only cutting his percentage from 33.7% to 30.5% – but he has more than doubled his home run rate and WAR through just 29 games.

The 22-year-old will get one more chance to add to his April stats when the Reds face the Padres again on Tuesday, assuming manager David Bell doesn't give him the day off. First pitch from Petco Park is scheduled for 9:40 p.m. ET.

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