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Bobby Witt Jr.’s leap foreshadows what’s next for Elly De La Cruz

Bobby Witt Jr.'s leap foreshadows what's next for Elly De La Cruz

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They were rookies with as many tools as anyone in MLB, but they faced a learning curve. In their second years in the big leagues, they ascended to an All-Star level.

Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz is on the same track as Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. The biggest difference between them is that Witt is about a year older, has an extra year in the big leagues under his belt and has progressed that much more. 

De La Cruz made the leap and established himself as one of the best young players in MLB in 2024. Witt did that last year. This year, Witt has made a second leap and solidified his place as one of the best players in the big leagues. 

“It was just about being myself and not trying to do more,” Witt said. “Knowing that I’m prepared each and every night.”

Witt, who recently turned 24, might be the only player in MLB who can match De La Cruz’s combination of power, speed and defense. Those skills turned Witt into a star this year, and he made just as big of a step entering 2024 as De La Cruz.

Entering the Royals’ series opener against the Reds at Great American Ball Park, Witt led the big leagues with a .349 batting average. He also ranked third in doubles, second in triples, 20th in homers (while playing his home games in a very pitcher-friendly park) and 12th in stolen bases. 

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But for the entire first half of Witt’s big league career, he dealt with the same challenges that De La Cruz had to figure out. Witt had to get better at his plate discipline, draw more walks, swing and miss less often and make pitchers work more. 

Witt got good at all of that in 2023. In 2024, he has been as good at that as anyone in MLB. Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino said that Witt’s continued growth there led to Witt playing at an MVP level.

Witt was pleased by the leap that he made in his second year in the big leagues, but he recognized there was a lot more work to do.

“You can get better each and every day,” Witt said. “I’m worried about today. After that, you learn from that, move on and get better. That’s a part of it. You’ve just got to control what you can control. Eliminate the outside noise. You don’t want to get into that too deep, but it’s good motivation.”

Witt became the player he is now because when the hype train started to take off, he kept his eye on his goal of continuing to grow. He wanted to develop into one of the best players in baseball, and his initial breakout didn’t distract him.

“The key for him was that he changed absolutely nothing,” Pasquantino said. “He just stayed who he was. In his own mind, he’s not a superstar. He’s just Bobby.”

Now, De La Cruz is in the stage of his career that Witt was in last summer.De La Cruz became an All-Star this year as he ironed out his approach at the plate, cut down on his strikeouts and became a better defender. This year, he’s hitting .263 and ranks 22nd in MLB with an .840 on-base-plus-slugging percentage (OPS).

He has made his first leap, and De La Cruz and the Reds are working on the next one. The leap that could make him an MVP.

“There may be multiple leaps,” Reds manager David Bell said. “If Elly continues to approach every day like he has been, it’s going to happen. There’s a lot of confidence from all of us that that will happen.”

Reds hitting coach Joel KcKeithan said that De La Cruz’s success this season has been a reflection of lessons that the 22-year-old has learned.De La Cruz has a better feel for the tendencies of specific pitchers that he’s going up against. He has improved his ability to develop a game plan. He has developed a better sense for how pitchers are attacking him, which lets De La Cruz make adjustments more quickly. 

“He has such a good feel now for any adjustments he needs to make,” McKeithan said. “A lot of times, he’ll be able to do that on the fly.”

McKeithan said that there’s always room for a player to be more consistent. As players get older, they get a better feel for things like their routine, their game planning process, their weight room program and knowing when to step on the brakes versus when to back off. 

“A lot of that is Elly continuing to learn himself and his process and being who he is every day,” McKeithan said. “There are things that he’ll keep getting better at, too. I don’t think we’ve seen the best of him yet. He’s just special in every way.”

The offseason heading into this year was full of change. De La Cruz overhauled his pregame routine, changed his swing and made adjustments to his mechanics at shortstop. All of those changes paid off.The next step for De La Cruz will be more subtle changes like striking out a few less times a month, preventing an 0-for-8 stretch from becoming an 0-for-12 one and making a few extra routine plays at shortstop. 

The more De La Cruz improves in those areas, the closer he’ll be to an MVP.

Witt said that he looks forward to seeing what De La Cruz does next.

“The excitement he brings to the baseball field is pretty special,” Witt said. “Any time you can do stuff with your arm, your legs and the bat, bringing five tools to the game is pretty special. I know that he’s a five-tool player.”

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Publish date : 2024-08-17 04:25:00

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