Cincinnati Reds: Lineup showing more home run power this spring
During spring training, whenever the Cincinnati Reds had a split squad game, shortstop Elly De La Cruz made it clear that he wanted to play in whatever game he could get the most at-bats against left-handed pitching. De La Cruz has always been stronger from the left side of the plate, and the switch hitter knew that he could make another leap in his career by producing much better against left-handed pitchers as a right-handed hitter. This season, he now already has as many homers against left-handed pitching as he had in all of 2025.
His power from the right side of the plate has improved significantly. “We want to get better in everything,” De La Cruz said. “Not only hitting from the right side.
Everything. ” It’s another reason why the Reds should hit more homers as a team this year than they did last year. One of the defining traits of the 2025 Reds was the limited power production.
So far, the Reds’ lineup is showing a lot more punch. It’s started with De La Cruz’s growth from the right side of the plate. “It’s a matter of the frequency of the at-bats,” hitting coach Valaika said.
“He has had significantly more left-handed at-bats. It’s just getting the reps. Control the zone, swing at the right pitches, don’t try to do more right-handed because it hadn’t as productive.