Elly De La Cruz Biography

Elly Antonio De La Cruz, born on January 11, 2002, is a Dominican professional baseball shortstop who has played for the Cincinnati Reds in Major League Baseball. He signed with the Reds as an international free agent in 2018 and made his MLB debut in 2023. De La Cruz has been selected to represent the National League in the 2024 and 2025 MLB All-Star Games. He made his professional debut in 2019 at age 17, playing shortstop in 43 games for the Dominican Summer League Reds with a .285 batting average, .351 on-base percentage, and .382 slugging percentage. The 2020 minor league season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so he did not play in any games that year. In 2022, he played for the High-A Dayton Dragons and Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts, recording 20 home runs, 28 steals, and multiple triples across both levels. De La Cruz began the 2023 season with the Triple-A Louisville Bats before joining the Reds' major league roster.