Elly De La Cruz has already made plenty of history early on in his young MLB career. He joined some even more historical ranks in the Cincinnati Reds‘ 8-4 win over the Detroit Tigers on Sunday. 

The Reds’ star shortstop extended his home run streak to four games on Sunday, doing so in dramatic fashion — doing so with two outs in the ninth inning. He took Tigers right-handed pitcher Brenan Hanifee deep for a two-run opposite field shot that extended the Reds’ lead. 

De La Cruz, 23, is the fourth player in Red history to have a four-game home run streak before their 24th birthday. He joined a pair of Baseball Hall of Famers (Frank Robinson, Johnny Bench) and two-time All-Star Eric Davis as the other Reds players to accomplish that feat.

De La Cruz’s recent home run tear has brought his total for the season up to 16, which is the ninth-most in the National League. His recent home run tear has also further solidified his standing as arguably the game’s best power-hitting speedster. 

As of Sunday, he’s one of just two players to hit at least 15 home runs and steal at least 20 bases this season. Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong is the other player, hitting 18 homers and stealing 23 bases so far in 2025.

Additionally, De La Cruz is just the third player in Reds history to have hit at least 16 HRs and stolen at least 20 bases through June. Davis (1987) and Chris Sabo (1990) are the other two players in franchise history to record that feat.

While De La Cruz has been one of the most electrifying stars in baseball over the last couple of years, he was a bit of a long shot to win NL MVP entering Sunday. He was tied for the 18th-best odds to win the award at +15000, putting him far behind Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani.

However, De La Cruz has been heating up as of late and seems like a potential contender to make a push for the award. He’s hitting .378 in the month of June with five total home runs, making him the only player to hit for at least .350 and five homers across MLB this month. 

De La Cruz’s hot streak has also helped keep the Reds in the thick of the NL wild card race. Following their win on Sunday, the Reds are 2.5 games back of the San Diego Padres for the final wild card spot. 

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