Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz became the fifth player in MLB history to have at least 20 home runs and 60 stolen bases in a single season.
Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz is one of Major League Baseball’s most dynamic players, and he is now part of the game’s storied history.
Cruz became the fifth player in MLB history to have at least 20 home runs and 60 stolen bases in a single season in an 11–7 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night.
“It means a lot,” De La Cruz
said about the record after the game. “I’ve said before that that’s why I’m working the whole season. I feel so proud, so happy.”
De La Cruz went
3-for-4 with his 22nd homer of the season in the eighth inning. He stole his 60th base in the fifth.
“It’s special watching him run the bases, play the game,” Reds manager David Bell
said after the game. “At such a young age, [he’s] doing everything he’s doing. But also the way he’s handling it, you wouldn’t know he reached a certain milestone. He was thrilled about the win.”
De La Cruz is having one the greatest seasons for the Reds and is the third player in franchise history to reach the 20/60 milestone, joining Eric Davis (27 home runs and 80 stolen bases in 1986) and Hall of Famer Joe Morgan (26 homers and stealing 67 bases in 1973 and 27 homers and 60 stolen bases in 1976).
Rickey Henderson (1985, 1986, and 1990) and
Ronald Acuna Jr. (2023) are the two other players to accomplish that feat.
De La Cruz is the youngest Reds player with
60 stolen bases in a season in franchise history at age 22. He is also the youngest MLB player with a 60-stolen base season since
José Reyes in 2005.
De La Cruz is also one of the MLB’s success stories. He moved away from his family home in the Dominican Republic to pursue his dream of becoming a professional baseball player. He moved in with his coach’s brother to be closer to his team’s baseball tournament and training facilities.
De La Cruz signed his first MLB contract as an international free agent with the Reds in 2018. He later earned regular playing time with the Reds affiliate, the
Daytona Tortugas, in 2o21. De La Cruz continued to develop as a player, and he became one of the Reds’ top prospects in 2022 when he hit
28 home runs and stole 47 bases. He made his major-league debut in a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Great American Ball Park on June 6, 2023.
From there, De La Cruz’s career took off—literally. On July 8, De La Cruz became the first Reds player since Greasy Neale in 1919 to steal second, third, and home in the same inning. He finished the season batting .235 with 15 doubles, seven triples, 13 home runs, 44 RBIs, and 35 stolen bases over 98 games and 388 at-bats.
This year, De La Cruz has continued to progress and made the National League All-Star team as a reserve. He also became the first major-league player since Ichiro Suzuki in 2012 to have four hits and four stolen bases in a single game on May 16, 2024. In addition to the 22 homers and 60 stolen bases, De La Cruz is batting .262 with 82 doubles and 56 RBIs over 125 games and 477 at-bats.
The Reds are
62–65 and in third place in the National League Central, 11.5 games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers. Cincinnati is also 5.5 games out of the wild-card standings.
