CINCINNATI — Elly De La Cruz has long been considered a five-tool player. On Sunday, he revealed a sixth.In addition to hitting for average, hitting for power, fielding, running and throwing, toss ornithology into the 24-year-old Cincinnati Reds superstar’s toolbox.Even on a day when he served as designated hitter, De La Cruz helped the Reds on the field in the top of the fourth inning by catching (and releasing) a bird that didn’t appear to want to leave the playing field at Great American Ball Park. Then De La Cruz showed the bird how to take flight in the bottom of the inning, launching the third pitch he saw from Milwaukee Brewers starter Kyle Harrison 402 feet to right-center field for this 23rd home run of the season.“How about that? He does it all,” Reds manager Terry Francona said following the Reds’ 12-8 victory over the Brewers. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw that bird on the plate for dinner.”
Elly De La Cruz: full-time baseball player, part-time bird whisperer @ellylacocoa18 pic.twitter.com/KNde0iVi6v
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) September 6, 2026The bird appeared on the field after Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio took a pitch for ball one. Home plate umpire Nestor Ceja called time and pointed the bird out as it sat in the first-base line. First base umpire Chris Guccione shooed the bird, but it instead flew toward the mound and Reds starter Brady Singer. Singer tried to nudge the bird past the first-base line where a Reds batboy used his helmet in an attempt to guide it off the field.When it became apparent the bird wouldn’t be moved by mere suggestion, De La Cruz ran onto the field, picked the bird up and brought it into the team’s dugout. De La Cruz said he gave the bird to someone in the dugout and didn’t know what happened after that.“I saw the guys struggling with it,” De La Cruz said, “so I went out and grabbed it.”Normally unflappable, Singer hadn’t allowed a hit or run in the three innings before the bird landed on the field, but he allowed six runs on four hits afterward, including a home run to Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers, the second batter after the bird was removed.After homering in the fourth, De La Cruz came to the plate in the fifth with the bases loaded — and the words “ducks on the pond” on the scoreboard — and drove in a pair of runs with a double, breaking the tie for a 8-6 Reds lead.Cincinnati’s Elly de la Cruz hits a double against the Milwaukee Brewers in the fifth inning at Great American Ball Park on Sunday. (Aaron Doster / Imagn Images)Aviculture can wait until after De La Cruz is done playing baseball, especially as he experiences what has quietly been perhaps the best season of his young career.Sunday, De La Cruz was 2-for-4 with a home run, two walks and four RBIs. He’s now hitting .280/.360/.492 this season. All three marks would be career bests. He’s two home runs from the career-high 25 he hit in 2024, despite missing 19 games with a hamstring sprain in June.De La Cruz dealt with a quad injury in the second half of last season but still played in all 162 games. This season, he’s played in every game that he’s been on the active roster — 124 of the team’s 143 games — and has been more accepting of serving as a designated hitter. Sunday was his ninth game this season as the DH and fourth this week after exiting the Reds’ Aug. 30 game with left quad tightness.In the team’s six-game homestand against the San Diego Padres and Brewers, both of whom arrived at Great American Ball Park in playoff position, De La Cruz went 10-for-22 with a double and two homers. He also had five walks and seven strikeouts in that stretch.The biggest leap in De La Cruz’s development has been his hitting from the right side of the plate. The switch-hitter entered the season a career .220/.278/.329 hitter against left-handers, and only 13 of his 60 career homers had come from the right side. This season, he’s hitting .345/.415/.640 against left-handed pitching with nine of his home runs coming as a right-handed hitter. His batting average, slugging percentage and OPS (1.055) are the best among qualified batters against lefties in all of baseball.De La Cruz’s two hits Sunday highlighted his ability from both sides of the plate. His home run came against the left-handed Harrison and was 105.5 mph off the bat. With the bases loaded against right-hander Antonio Senzatela the next inning, De La Cruz hit a line drive 116.6 mph off the bat.“When he starts lining balls like he did left-handed over short and then he hits the ball right-handed to right field, it’s so pretty,” Francona said. “He’s got such good balance, and he can leverage the ball so well.”Not only did De La Cruz’s homer come after his birding adventure, but it also gave the Reds some breathing room after Milwaukee crawled within a run at 4-3. His fifth-inning double broke a tie, and the Reds did not surrender the lead the rest of the game as Singer notched his sixth win of the season. The Reds claimed their third straight series victory over a team in playoff contention and their first home series victory over the Brewers in their last 10 tries, a streak dating back to May 2021. The Reds are now 26-22 since the All-Star break.In the second half, De La Cruz is hitting .289/.380/.492 with 20 extra-base hits, including eight home runs and a partridge in a pear tree — or at least a bird removed from the field.“He had a great game, and super fun to watch,” Singer said. “He obviously means a lot to this team and the city. So for him to do what he’s doing is really cool.”
