Elly De La Cruz surge

Elly De La Cruz’s power surge kept rolling Tuesday night, when the Reds shortstop homered again and pushed his season total to seven. (apnews.com) That homer came in Cincinnati’s 12-6 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on April 21, and it was one of two De La Cruz hit in the game. Major League Baseball’s official recap listed the first as his seventh of the season and the second as his eighth. (mlb.com) Through 98 at-bats, De La Cruz is batting.276 with eight home runs, a.571 slugging percentage and a.914 on-base plus slugging percentage, according to his 2026 stat line. (espn.com) The shape of the surge is what stands out. On April 12, MLB.com noted that four of his first five homers had come batting right-handed in only 22 at-bats against left-handed pitching. (mlb.com) De La Cruz has long been more dangerous from the left side against right-handed pitching than from the right side against lefties. In 2025, he hit.236 with five home runs and a.618 on-base plus slugging percentage versus left-handed pitching. (baseball-reference.com) That is why the early-season split has drawn attention: the home runs are arriving from the side that gave pitchers less trouble a year ago. Yahoo Sports reported that De La Cruz even batted right-handed against a right-handed pitcher in his final at-bat Tuesday night and homered again. (sports.yahoo.com) The underlying contact has been loud across the board. Baseball Savant shows De La Cruz in 2026 with a 95.3 mile-per-hour average exit velocity, a 52.9% hard-hit rate and a 17.6% barrel rate, all signs that he is driving the ball with authority. (baseballsavant.mlb.com) He is still the same player who stole 35 bases in 2025 and made his second straight National League All-Star team before turning 24. The difference in April 2026 is that the power spike has shown up immediately, and from both sides of the plate. (mlb.com) For Cincinnati, the result is a shortstop who has already matched more than a third of last season’s 22 home runs before the end of April. For opponents, it means the old plan of waiting for his weaker side has looked less reliable so far. (fangraphs.com)