Former Reds All-Star Calls Out Team For How They Handled Elly De La Cruz Injury

On Wednesday night, Reds President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall said Elly De La Cruz played through a partially torn quad in 2025.

“Toward the end of July, he was dealing with a partially torn quad,” Krall said. “He has been rehabbing. He was at the ballpark today. He has been rehabbing this whole offseason. To his credit, he played every day. He tried to grind through it. He tried to play through it.”

Local Cincinnati radio personality Lance McAlister posted on X criticizing the Reds for their handling of the situation.

“So…..nobody in the organization could be the adult in the room and tell Elly he wasn’t going to play everyday, and he certainly wasn’t going to play with a partially torn quad? My head hurts.”

Former Reds infielder Zack Cozart quote-tweeted McAlister and said, “Lance is right.”

De La Cruz had drastic splits before and after the All-Star break, which is around when the injury occurred.

The switch-hitter slashed 284/.359/.495 with 39 extra-base hits and 25 stolen bases in the first half. In the second half, the shortstop slashed just .236/.303/.363 with 21 extra-base hits and 12 stolen bases.

So while I understand the Reds lacked depth in 2025, letting De La Cruz struggle for two straight months without giving him even a single day off looks questionable in hindsight.

You can see Cozart’s full post below:

Lance is right https://t.co/zRN0WBKf0u

— Zack Cozart (@zack_cozart) November 20, 2025

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Former Reds All-Star Calls Out Team For How They Handled Elly De La Cruz Injury

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