The Cincinnati Reds made it to the last two weeks of the season still in postseason contention, despite its best star, Elly De La Cruz, laboring for virtually the entire second half.
Then, in the Cardinals series earlier this week, manager Terry Francona demoted him from third to seventh in the order for the first time this season, hoping to alleviate some of the strain. He has not batted higher than sixth since.
It may now be starting to pay off. There’s just enough time in the season for it to matter.
“If we can get him hot, boy, that would really give us a big lift,” Francona said after the Reds won for the fourth time in five games since the lineup change.
De La Cruz makes no promises about what he’s done since, or what he’ll do in the Reds’ last eight games as they try to close a two-game playoff gap.
“But I’ve been feeling really good lately,” the man said. “We’ve got to just keep in mind this game’s all about mentality.”
Since the transfer, he has drawn six walks. On September 19, he hit his first home run since July 31 in the opposite direction, ending his career’s longest homerless streak.
It adds up to a.474 on-base percentage and.538 slugging percentage, despite the short sample size.
However, examine the.243 OBP and.291 slugging from August 1 to the slide down the batting order. Throughout those 39 games, he struck out 51 times and walked eight.
“I hope it takes the weight off his shoulders,” said teammate Spencer Steer, who has also been hot in recent games, including a five-RBI game Wednesday and two home runs in Friday’s win over the Cubs, including the go-ahead, two-run shot just before De La Cruz hit back-to-back shots in the sixth inning.
“He is the heart of this squad. “He goes, we go,” Steer said. “It’s been a challenging period for him. But I applaud him for how he handled it. He’s the same person every day. That is something you must appreciate as a colleague and friend.”
De La Cruz has contended with hamstring and quad injuries this season, as well as the loss of his sister on May 31. He has not missed a game.
Whether he’s discovered a physical and mental window of opportunity to excel in late September, that favorable space may be an ideal moment for not only himself but a team he characterizes as “really close, everybody in the clubhouse.”
If he overcomes the challenges of the previous two months to have a strong week to conclude the season? What if Friday marked the start of something?
“He’s a game changer,” Steer explained. “He can dominate a game. He can take over a series. He’s that type of player. Hopefully, that gets him fired up, and he can get it going in the remaining few games. “Every time he does something good, we have a good chance of winning.”
No promises. No guarantees.
“We need to keep it going,” De La Cruz remarked. “Continue winning games and making things happen. “We need to make it happen.”
