The Cincinnati Reds announced positive news surrounding star shortstop Elly De La Cruz before the start of their series against the New York Yankees.
De La Cruz has been on the 10-day injured list for Cincinnati since June 1 with a right hamstring strain. He has missed 15 games thus far. This unfortunately snapped his streak of 276 consecutive games played.
Prior to his injury, the 24-year-old had been his electric self fans have learned to love over the past four seasons. De La Cruz was hitting himself into MVP conversations, slashing .280/ /.346/.509, good for a .855 OPS, with 12 home runs, 37 RBI and defense that ranks in the 91st percentile in baseball per Baseball Savant.
It was announced by the Reds on Thursday that they have sent De La Cruz to start a minor league rehab assignment with Triple-A Louisville.
The former All-Star injured his hamstring while attempting to run out a base hit against the Atlanta Braves on May 31. The recovery time was set for only 2-to-4 weeks, meaning he could be back this upcoming week.
The Reds called up their No. 3 overall prospect, shortstop Edwin Arroy, to fill in the gaps for the team while De La Cruz is on the injured list.
Unfortunately for the Reds, they have not received much offensive production from the shortstop position since De La Cruz went down.
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In 15 games for the major league team, Arroy is slashing .205/.273/.231/.504 with two RBIs, one double, eight hits and 11 strikeouts. The 22-year-old has lots of talent, but he has not been able to put it together this year in the majors or minor leagues.
The Reds have struggled without their team MVP. In those 15 missed games, the Reds have gone a disappointing 4-11.
Cincinnati has fallen to a 35-38 record on the season and they are currently in last place of the National League Central division. For a team that made the playoffs last year, this was not even close to their expectations.
However, even with this horrible stretch, the Reds sit only three games back of the final wild card spot.
With Elly De La Cruz attempting to come back this upcoming week, the Reds could start to crawl back into the race as we work our way into the dog days of summer.
Cincinnati ends their road trip in the Bronx for three games starting Thursday night.
