Elly De La Cruz News: Will remain at shortstop in 2026

The Reds plan to keep De La Cruz at shortstop next season, Charlie Goldsmith of Fox 19 Now Cincinnati reports.

De La Cruz has led baseball in errors in each of his two full seasons as the Reds' starting shortstop. After grading out at plus-14 in Outs Above Average in 2024, per Baseball Savant, he came in at minus-3 in 2025. The inconsistency on defense from De La Cruz has led to speculation that he could move to the outfield, but there are no plans for a position switch at this point. The Reds do plan to give De La Cruz more days off and more starts at designated hitter in 2026, per Goldsmith, with the idea that it will help keep him fresh after he struggled offensively and defensively in the second half in 2025.