Cincinnati Reds’ Terry Francona Reveals When Elly De La Cruz Could Return to Shortstop

Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz has not played the field since last Sunday. During that game against the Chicago Cubs, De La Cruz left early with left quad tightness.

Given that he dealt with left quad soreness during the second half of the 2025 season that severely impacted his all-around performance, it was a concerning development at the time. However, manager Terry Francona downplayed the issue and just one day later De La Cruz was back in the lineup against the San Diego Padres.

He was in there in a new role though, serving as the designated hitter. De La Cruz played DH for the remainder of the series as well, keeping his bat in the lineup while protecting his quad. That does not figure to be a permanent arrangement according to Francona.

"He feels like with the day off tomorrow he'll be able to play short on Friday. We'll see. I hope that's the case," reported Charlie Goldsmith of FOX19.

Getting De La Cruz back to shortstop gets him right back to being an all-around impactful player. He remains one of the best defensive players in MLB at the position, posting a fielding run value of plus-5 according to Statcast's Baseball Savant. It is easy to see why given the ground he covers because of his elite speed, which has also allowed him to swipe 24 bags on the season. He would lose a significant portion of his overall value had the quad injury progressed into something more serious.

At the plate, De La Cruz has posted a .273 batting average, .353 on-base percentage, .829 OPS, 21 home runs and 60 RBIs across 121 games this year, making him one of the more well-rounded players in the National League.

It has been a lost season for Cincinnati. Even though they have won back-to-back series recently, they enter the off day still sitting 6.5 games out of the final NL wild card spot. Four weeks remain but that is a significant amount of ground to cover.

As for De La Cruz, this is an interesting offseason ahead of him. The Reds are unlikely to extend him to a long-term contract given their small-market constraints and the fact that his value is at its peak right now.

He could potentially be on the move this offseason. For now though he remains the face of the franchise and will do everything he can to will Cincinnati back into the hunt before the season runs out.