Matt’s Take – Elly De La 'Cruising'

By Matthew McAdow
HCP columnist

The Cincinnati Reds may have lost the series against a very tough Atlanta Braves team, but in terms of the entire season, they certainly won. They won over the fans, won over the media and proved to the front office that they are ready to compete for a division title.  

They proved they are true contenders and nearly took a series against the best hitting team in baseball, all while starting Weaver, Ashcraft and Stoudt. Nick Krall, you know what needs to be done now, and I am looking forward to some arms joining this ball club in the near future.  

Let’s Elly De La “Cruise” into the next series and take a couple games from the Baltimore Orioles.

Possible arms?

As we are approaching the All-Star Break, it is clear that more pitching arms are needed. It isn’t uncommon for teams to hold out until the last second before selling off a pitcher, as they want to do the same thing to a team that Cincinnati pulled off with Tyler Mahle.  

In order for this break to be a success, Cincinnati needs to find a way to pull in some arms without giving up top tier prospect talent. My wish list includes bringing Aroldis Chapman back for a Queen City reunion, along with bringing in two starters.  

A few realistic starters that could possibly be traded include Dylan Cease, Aaron Civale, Michael Wacha, JP Sears, or even James Paxton. With injuries to Greene, Lively, Lodolo and the poor performances from Weaver and Ashcraft, a couple arms would go a long way.  I trust in Nick Krall and I look forward to an upcoming move. Barrero, Senzel, Newman, and possibly some AA tier players could soon be leaving in order for this team to make a deal before the deadline.  

Joey x Elly

Joey Votto and Elly De La Cruz were electric this past Friday and it was truly a sight to see them both show off their craft. As we all know by now, Elly hit for the cycle, while Votto managed to hit two home runs. Those two in the lineup are an absolute “cheat code,” as the on-base percentage sky-rockets when those two take the field.  

As of June 26, both of them are batting over .270, with an OBP of .395 or higher. Both of them are slugging roughly over .600 and the team has dramatically changed with these two entering the lineup. At some point, Votto will pass over the torch to Elly, so enjoy every lineup that includes both of these players while we can.

Standings

The Cincinnati Reds are currently in first place, holding a 0.5 game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central. With such a small lead, don’t be surprised if we “flip-flop” with the Brewers over the next couple weeks, as Cincinnati has some tough opponents approaching including the Orioles and Padres.  

If the playoffs were to begin right now, Cincinnati would take on the Dodgers in a “3-6” matchup before the winner would take on the Diamondbacks. While scoreboard watching and looking at the future is fun, the season is still quite young. Keep playing aggressive, secure some arms, and calling up Encarnacion-Strand sounds like the best winning recipe (Right behind my mother-in-laws gameday Broccoli Casserole that is).

It's only June, so prepare for the 162-game season. There will certainly be struggles, but the chemistry this team has is unlike any Reds team in my lifetime. I predict the hashtag of #ATOBTTR will be used quite often for the rest of the summer.

Matthew McAdow is a graduate of Ohio Christian University. He lives in Peebles.