Elly De La Cruz on the cusp of statistical history as Reds take on Braves

Current Reds superstar Elly De La Cruz is knocking hard on that door as we speak. With both a homer and steal in Tuesday's series opener against the Atlanta Braves , he has reached 29 in both statistical categories, respectively, as the Reds enter their final five games left of the 2026 regular season. Given that they are so incredibly buried in the standings that much else for which to root is nearly impossible to find, the spotlight turns clear towards #44 as he looks to complete the feat in the midst of the biggest offensive breakout of his still-young career.

Elly's surge to finish the season has him valued at 6.5 fWAR for his efforts, work that slots him in behind only Bobby Witt, Jr. (6.7) and Pete Crow-Armstrong (10.6) on that leaderboard this season. He boasts the 6th best wOBA (.384) and OPS (.891) in the game, and is truly breaking out right as he's about to hit the Reds in the pocketbook through the arbitration process for the first time – GO ELLY, GO! All that is going to push him right into contention for the runner-up spot in the NL MVP voting at this rate.

Elly and the Reds are up against a tall task on Wednesday, however. Former Cy Young Award winner (and current Cy Young contender) Chris Sale is on the bump, so we'll get to see Elly's reinvention as a right-handed powerhouse tested to its finest in Atlanta this evening.