Elly De La Cruz appears to be gearing up for his encore next season.
Cincinnati Reds writer Bryce Spalding shared some videos this week of a new-looking swing from the Reds phenom De La Cruz. Most notably, De La Cruz seems to have done away with his high leg kick. Spalding noted that De La Cruz’s swing looks slower, more controlled, and slightly more open too.
Here are the videos.
Liking the slow, controlled load from Elly.
Not sure if that’ll be permanent moving forward but he looks very under control throughout the attack process. #Reds pic.twitter.com/LxXE9EMO8V
— Bryce Spalding (@bryce_spalding) January 19, 2024
Another look.
He looks more open in his initial set-up as well. pic.twitter.com/EM3ike1N0R
— Bryce Spalding (@bryce_spalding) January 19, 2024
Spalding also shared a side-by-side edited video comparison of De La Cruz’s old swing to his new one.
Pretty drastic difference.
I don’t think Elly is going to lose a lot of power if he goes away from a leg kick, I think he’ll just be on time more… pic.twitter.com/5IUq9Zq1ZZ
— Bryce Spalding (@bryce_spalding) January 19, 2024
The 22-year-old De La Cruz was an exhilarating watch from the moment that the Reds called him up last June. His combination of size, speed, and Paul Bunyan power made De La Cruz a walking highlight reel (no matter if he was at the plate, on the basepaths, or in the field).
That said, De La Cruz also proved that he was still pretty raw. He struggled in particular with his batting average (finishing the year at just .235 over 98 total games) and his high strikeout rate (a whopping 144 total whiffs). With his approach at the plate looking like his biggest current weakness, De La Cruz developing a corrected swing this offseason to pair with his other physical gifts is probably exactly what Reds fans would like to see.
