Cincinnati Reds star Elly De La Cruz is the charter member of a new power/speed club. One day after joining Vince Coleman and Rickey Henderson as the only players to steal 100 bases in their first two seasons, De La Cruz slugged his 25th home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday (GameTracker), becoming the first shortstop with 25 homers and 65 steals in a season.
Here is De La Cruz's 25th homer:
The 25-homer, 65-stolen base club is exclusive regardless of position. De La Cruz is only the fifth player ever with a 25-65 season, and it's now been done six times in history. Here are the other players with 25 homers and 65 steals in a single season:
| Year | HR | SB | |
|---|---|---|---|
Ronald Acuña Jr., Braves | 2023 | 41 | 73 |
Rickey Henderson, Athletics | 1990 | 28 | 65 |
Eric Davis, Reds | 1986 | 27 | 80 |
Rickey Henderson, Yankees | 1986 | 28 | 87 |
Joe Morgan, Reds | 1973 | 26 | 67 |
De La Cruz, 22, entered Saturday with a .260/.343/.471 slash line to go with all those home runs and stolen bases. He's a 4.9 WAR player this year, which ranks fifth in the National League behind Shohei Ohtani (8.0 WAR), Matt Chapman (6.9 WAR), Francisco Lindor (6.6 WAR), and Ketel Marte (6.1 WAR).
Despite De La Cruz's power/speed excellence, the Reds are 75-80 this season, and they have already been eliminated from postseason contention. Cincinnati last made the postseason in 2020. They haven't made the postseason in a full 162-game season since 2013.