Elly De La Cruz on Pace to Outshine Reigning MVP’s Historic Season
One of baseball’s most electrifying players is making headlines early in the 2024 season. Reds’ infielder Elly De La Cruz has been a walking highlight since entering the league last year, with a combination of incredible speed, hitting power, and arm strength. Coming in as a top-ten prospect in 2023, De La Cruz put on an impressive rookie campaign and showed major promise for the future. In year two of his young career, De La Cruz is delivering as one of the best talents in the MLB.
Thus far, De La Cruz has played every game of the season and has been nothing short of an MVP-caliber player. He currently leads the league in stolen bases at 19, while adding eight home runs and a slash line of .288/.392/.586. If De La Cruz can keep up his incredible start throughout the season, he is on a 162-game pace of 96 stolen bases and 40 home runs. This would be a season for the record books, surpassing a historic season put on last year by Ronald Acuña Jr.
Acuña Jr. became the fifth player in MLB history with 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases, earning him the National League MVP in 2023. He finished the season with 41 home runs and 73 stolen bases, being the first player to have over 70 stolen bases in one season since Jacoby Ellsbury in 2009. On De La Cruz’s pace, he would be the first player since the stolen base king, Rickey Henderson, to reach a mark as high as 96 stolen bases. With a shot at a record-breaking season, De La Cruz has a chance to join elite company, along with multiple accolades at just age 22.
