For now, it appears as though the Cincinnati Reds dodged a major bullet. Reds' superstar Elly De La Cruz had an awkward slide into home plate on Sunday afternoon and appeared to hurt his right shoulder. No news is good news, however. De La Cruz stayed in the game, and there was no mention of injury during Terry Francona's postgame comments to reporters.
That's certainly a relief, but perhaps Francona should give De La Cruz a day off during Monday's series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays. After De La Cruz played all 162 games during the 2025 season, the Reds manager stated his desire to give the shortstop more rest this season. After Sunday's injury scare, Monday's game on the road in Tampa seems like the perfect time to do so.
Elly De La Cruz had Reds fans holding their breath
The Reds and Minnesota Twins needed extra innings to settle Sunday's series finale in Minneapolis. The Reds took a 4-3 lead in the top of the ninth, but the Twins battled back to the tie the game in the bottom-half of the inning.
De La Cruz was the last batter for the Reds during the ninth, and took his spot as the ghost runner at second base to begin the 10th. A lunging swing from Eugenio Suárez resulted in a base hit that glanced off the glove of the Twins' infielder and trickled into left field. Minnesota's left fielder bobbled the ball, and De La Cruz headed home.
CHAOS pic.twitter.com/kKzqRhlLn0
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) April 19, 2026
De La Cruz's momentum caused him to slide awkwardly into home plate, and he came up wincing and holding his right shoulder. As he received congratulations from his teammates in the dugout, the Reds' star was not using his right arm to receive high fives.
De La Cruz, however, was later observed celebrating Rece Hinds' two-RBI double and Francona allowed him to head back onto the field for the bottom-half of the 10th inning — though Tito had already used his entire bench and there was no suitable substitute to take over at shortstop. For now, it seems that De La Cruz is no worse for wear.
But after watching De La Cruz limp through the second-half of the 2025 season with a hamstring injury, Cincinnati's decision makers need to be very cautious with how they deploy Elly throughout the season. He's started every game at shortstop to begin the 2026 year, but after 22 straight starts, it's fair to assume that De La Cruz could use an off-day.
Matt McLain can take over at shortstop for a game, and if that extra day of rest is all that's needed to ensure that De La Cruz is fully healthy, there's no reason he can't return to the starting lineup on Tuesday. Elly is crucial to the Reds success in 2026, and they'll need him to be at full strength throughout the season.
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