With the Reds’ pitching battered by injuries and the season starting poorly, Elly De La Cruz has become the steady force Cincinnati didn’t know it needed. His surge through May—highlighted as the team MVP by Zachary Rymer—has steadied an offense that has found
The Cincinnati Reds didn’t arrive at 29-27 the way anyone expected this season. The record is close to what was supposed to be normal. The path to get there wasn’t.
Injuries have knocked the pitching staff off schedule—Hunter Greene, Rhett Lowder, and Brandon Williamson have all been sidelined. That’s supposed to be the Reds’ engine. Instead, the offense has carried more of the load than it ever looked like it would at the start.
It’s in that gap—between what the Reds were counting on and what they’ve actually gotten—where Elly De La Cruz has stepped in and refused to disappear. Shortstop has become the word for him this year. but the reality is harsher and better: he’s consistently been one of baseball’s best players. and Cincinnati needs that if it wants to contend for a postseason spot and keep moving beyond it.
Through May. Bleacher Report’s Zachary Rymer listed De La Cruz as the Reds’ team MVP. calling the decision one that “couldn’t have been much easier to make.” In the argument. he pointed to how hard it is to dismiss De La Cruz’s production as a fluke. Rymer wrote: “The notion that EDLC played hurt last year is only getting easier to believe. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a .282/.347/.516 slash line from an everyday shortstop.”.
He also zoomed in on the swing that has changed the way hitters handle him: his shift in effectiveness against left-handed pitching. Rymer noted that De La Cruz’s “revolution as a right-handed hitter” shows up in the numbers—he “now boasts a .971 OPS against lefties after previously peaking at .661.”.
If De La Cruz’s case has a clear shape. the Reds’ other possible MVP choice—Chase Burns—has a different one. Rymer’s ballot treated Burns as the only other option for team MVP. and the Reds have been positioned to win the games Burns has started. even as the rest of the pitching staff has struggled tremendously. The piece also singled out Andrew Abbott as the exception “as of late.”.
That matters because De La Cruz isn’t just helping paper over pitching problems. Without him, Cincinnati wouldn’t be where it is right now.
This season. his line reads like it belongs to a player in the center of the Reds’ future. not just a promising piece. He’s slashing .279/.346/.509, with a 2.5 WAR, 12 home runs, a triple, 13 doubles, and nine stolen bases. And while those totals alone can be enough to grab attention. the story around him has changed too: De La Cruz has “quickly emerged as a true superstar.”.
For years, he’d hovered near stardom without locking it in. He was inconsistent, dependent on hot stretches to drag his stats upward. Mistakes—sometimes costly—kept showing up and seemed to hold him back.
This season looks different. The article describes him as incredibly consistent, with lessened mistakes. Defensively, it’s not just praise for highlights. De La Cruz has posted five Fielding Run Value and six Outs Above Average. both ranking near the top of the league. That’s why the idea of him becoming a five-tool player isn’t just talk anymore—it’s backed by what he’s doing on both sides of the game.
The Reds didn’t get the pitching season they expected. They didn’t start the way they wanted, either—this offense only got rolling after a “horrible start.” Through all of that, De La Cruz’s steady production has given Cincinnati something rare: a reliable core.
If he can keep it up, the stakes change again. The article suggests he could become one of the league’s best players for years to come. For a team at 29-27 that still has to fight its way into the kind of season it hoped to have. having that kind of certainty at shortstop may be the difference between almost and actually contending.
Cincinnati Reds Elly De La Cruz MLB team MVP May 2026 Hunter Greene Rhett Lowder Brandon Williamson Chase Burns Andrew Abbott postseason race
So he’s MVP cuz the pitchers are hurt? That’s kinda crazy.
I didn’t even know pitchers could be “battered” like that lol. But good for Elly I guess, he’s been carrying them.
Wait, I thought De La Cruz got injured last year so why are they saying it’s easy to believe he was playing hurt? Sounds like they’re rewriting history. Also the 29-27 thing, that’s like… good? I’m confused but I’ll take it.
If Zachary Rymer says it couldn’t have been easier then it probably means the writers already decided before May even started. But I will say the lefties thing—teams always make adjustments so if he’s changed that’s huge. Hopefully the pitchers come back and don’t ruin whatever chemistry is happening.