The Dominican box prospect of the Cincinnati Reds, Elly De La CruzIt received a lot of commercial attention last summer, but Reds “didn’t want to have anything to do with moving it.” De La Cruz was an international signing from the Dominican Republic in 2018, and after a solid performance in the Dominican Summer League in 2019, made a huge impression in his first season in the North American minor league system.
The 19-year-old hit a combined .296 / .336 / .538 with eight home runs in 265 plate appearances on rookie ball for the Reds (55 at-bats) and Class A (210 at-bats):
Prospect evaluators took note of the breakdown, as Baseball America (4th) and MLB Pipeline (8th) they now have De La Cruz ingrained in their rankings of Cincinnati’s top prospects. BA’s exploration report notes that:
There are few players in the majors or minors with three 70s on their scouting report. De La Cruz is a plus-plus rider with a plus-plus arm and gross plus-plus power.
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Defensively, De La Cruz is a good athlete who could stay at shortstop and could have potential in center field, although so far he has only played shortstop, third baseman and a little second baseman in his brief professional career.
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