Reds president reveals Elly De La Cruz played through a partially torn quad

Elly De La Cruz’s swoon in the second half could now have an explanation.

Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall said Wednesday night during a “Reds Hot Stove League” appearance that the 23-year-old was dealing with a partially torn quad.

“I think a lot of people don’t know this. At the end of July he was dealing with a partially torn quad,” Krall said. “He’s been rehabbing (in the offseason). He was on the field today. To his credit, he played every day. He tried to work through it. He tried to play through it. If you look at his defensive numbers, he made 12 errors at the end of July when he got hurt, and from the end of July onwards he made 14.”

The two-time All-Star shortstop had a strong first half as he hit .286/.367/.474 with 18 home runs and 25 stolen bases.

Nevertheless, De La Cruz’s production took a noticeable dip over the last 65 games. He had just a .666 OPS with four home runs, 21 total extra base hits and stole 12 bases – attempting just 14 steals.

He finished with 37 stolen bases, a far cry from the MLB-leading 67 total he reached in 2024.

Krall said the injury likely affected the speedster both offensively and defensively, but gave kudos to De La Cruz for pulling it off as the Reds made the playoffs as the final National League wild-card entrant over the collapsing Mets.

“He couldn’t do it [quad tear] as successful as possible,” Krall said. “He had a stretch of games where he hit 19 home runs and then he didn’t hit one until September. That’s going to affect him. That will affect everything he does.

“But to his credit, he tried to play through it every day.”