Team Dominican Republic will not have the Cincinnati Reds star for the WBC.
Cincinnati Reds star shortstop Elly De La Cruz went viral on Thursday with his 438-foot Spring Training home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Hitting from the right side, the switch-hitting infielder went deep over the center field wall to put Cincinnati on top 2-1 in the first inning.
The swing reminded MLB fans why De La Cruz is one of the game's most exciting young players. But it also reminded others about his disappointing absence from the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
In January, it was reported by Mark Sheldon of MLB.com that De La Cruz and the Reds decided it was best that he not play for Team Dominican Republic after playing through an injury last season.
"Elly De La Cruz says he will not be playing in the World Baseball Classic for the Dominican Republic," Sheldon reported at the time. "The decision was made in conjunction with the Reds because he is coming off of last year’s left quad injury."
This situation became even more disappointing this week when it was announced that Dominican infielder Jeremy Pena had been ruled out for the tournament with a fractured finger. The 2022 World Series MVP was slotted to start in the infield for Team Dominican Republic, and his injury only increases the disappointment of De La Cruz not being able to play, as the Reds star would have been a perfect replacement.
De La Cruz has appeared in three seasons with the Reds, posting a .255 batting average with 417 hits, 60 home runs, 206 RBIs, and 274 runs scored. In 2025, he played all 162 games and hit .264, collecting 166 hits, 22 home runs, 86 RBIs, and 102 runs scored. Reds manager Terry Francona has been vocal about managing De La Cruz's workload this season, and it seems the team deemed this WBC run as something too taxing for the 24-year-old this early in spring.
"I need to find ways to get him off his feet from time to time, and I didn't do a very good job of that," Francona said earlier this offseason. "... I love the fact that he wants to play, and he's one of the rare guys where he can bring energy every day, which is really amazing… but he gets beat up so much. Sometimes the day game [off] after the night game might be really helpful for him.”
Unfortunately for baseball fans, that also means no De La Cruz replacing Pena. It would have made sense from a roster standpoint, but the Reds have big goals in mind for 2026, and De La Cruz is at the center of them.