Elly De La Cruz pulled up rounding first base on Sunday, and the Reds now wait to find out how much it costs them.
Cincinnati’s All-Star shortstop left the fifth inning of a 6-4 win over the Braves with right hamstring tightness and is scheduled for an MRI on Monday. He had roped a ball that two-hopped the wall in right center, then slowed up making the turn at first and retreated to the bag rather than push for second.
What he felt
De La Cruz described the moment plainly. “When I was making the turn to get to first, I felt tightness in my hamstring and immediately decided to stop because I felt like if I keep going it could get worse,” he said through an interpreter.
He sounded optimistic afterward, saying through the team that he does not think it is too bad. The MRI will carry the real answer. De La Cruz had started all 58 Reds games this season, and a trip to the injured list would be his first since his rookie year in 2023.
Why it matters for Cincinnati
The Reds came into Sunday at 29-28, last in the NL Central but only two games back of second place behind the Cubs. De La Cruz is the engine of that lineup and one of the most watchable players in the sport, a switch-hitting shortstop with elite speed and power who turns routine doubles into highlight reels.
He has played hurt before. The Reds acknowledged last offseason that De La Cruz played through a partial quad tear in the second half of 2025, when his range at short and his power both dropped off as he ground through it. That history is part of why a hamstring on a player whose game runs on speed gets the full MRI treatment.
What comes next
The imaging results set the timeline. A clean MRI keeps the streak of games played alive and lets the Reds breathe. Anything more pulls their best player out of a tight Central race at the point teams start separating.
Read More: Jose Altuve hit the IL just as Jeremy Peña came back, and the Astros are not as whole as it looks
