Cincinnati Reds Call Up Top Prospect Amid Elly De La Cruz Injury

Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz was placed on the 10-day injured list Monday with a right hamstring strain, ending a streak of 276 straight games played.

The two-time All-Star pulled up while running to first base during Sunday's 6-4 win over the Atlanta Braves and left the game in the fifth inning.

It is the first time De La Cruz has landed on the IL in his career, and to fill his spot, Cincinnati called up infield prospect Edwin Arroyo from Triple-A Louisville for his big league debut.

The 22-year-old switch-hitter came to Cincinnati in the 2022 trade that sent Luis Castillo to Seattle, arriving alongside Noelvi Marte as part of Cincinnati's rebuild.

Arroyo was a consensus top-100 prospect at the time, but a shoulder injury that needed surgery wiped out his entire 2024 season and knocked him off most national rankings.

He bounced back in Double-A last year with a .284 average and .345 on-base percentage across 120 games, though the power had not fully returned.

This year, the power showed up in a way nobody expected.

Through 53 games with Louisville, Arroyo slashed .323/.383/.562 with 11 home runs, nine doubles and five triples.

After hitting just four home runs in all of 2025, he has nearly tripled that total in less than half the games.

Keith Law of The Athletic recently placed him 23rd on his midseason Top 50 overall prospect list, and both MLB.com and Baseball America have moved him back onto their top-100 rankings following the breakout.

The Reds sit at 29-28 through 57 games and have been hit hard by injuries all season, losing Hunter Greene, Ke'Bryan Hayes and Eugenio Suarez at different points.

Arroyo gives them a capable bat and some real defensive flexibility at a time when they need both.

The bigger question is what happens after De La Cruz gets healthy.

Arroyo's natural position is shortstop, but he has been taking reps at second base and third base in the minors, which opens up paths for him to stay on the roster even when De La Cruz returns.

Matt McLain has hit just .207 this season at second, and Hayes was sitting at .134 before going down with his own injury.

If Arroyo produces at the major league level, Cincinnati's front office could find it tough to send him back.

De La Cruz had been playing well before the strain, hitting .280 with 12 home runs, and he entered the year with goals of helping the Reds win the NL Central.

Losing him for any stretch puts pressure on the rest of the lineup, and Arroyo's promotion is both a necessity and a chance for Cincinnati to find out if one of their best prospects can handle the big leagues.

Arroyo says that Terry Francona told him to “just be me” on Monday, so what he does from here will go a long way in deciding whether this is a short fill-in or the start of something bigger.