Elly De La Cruz Injured, Latest Update on Reds Star's Hamstring and Timeline to Return

Cincinnati Reds star Elly De La Cruz exited Sunday's game against the Atlanta Braves with a hamstring injury after he singled to start the bottom of the fifth.

The Red announced he left with "right hamstring tightness."

Insider Charlie Goldsmith previously reported the shortstop exited after he "came up hopping rounding first base" on a hit in the gap. He surely would have ended up with extra bases given where the ball was placed had he remained healthy, but he was in obvious pain.

Matt McClain pinch ran for De La Cruz and ended up scoring a run on Eugenio Suárez's sacrifice fly.

De La Cruz has been a steady presence in Cincinnati's lineup of late and appeared in 160 games in 2024 and all 162 games in 2025. What's more, he has played in all 58 of the team's games this season.

Yet that streak appears in serious jeopardy following this setback.

Cincinnati does not get a day off after finishing the three-game series against the Braves and will host the Kansas City Royals for a three-game set starting Monday. 

De La Cruz is the face of the franchise for the current iteration of the Reds and was a back-to-back All-Star the past two years. He has played well this season as well and entered Sunday's contest slashing .274/.339/.504 with 12 home runs, 37 RBI and nine stolen bases.

The Reds can use McClain at shortstop in the immediate future but may need to call someone up from the minor league level if De La Cruz needs to go to the injured list.

Edwin Arroyo is a potential candidate, seeing how he is slashing .323/.383/.562 with 11 home runs, 34 RBI and nine stolen bases for Triple-A Louisville this season.