Terry Francona may have tipped his hand on what the Reds need most this winter, and it starts with the top of the order.
Cincinnati’s manager made one of his more notable calls this season when he slid Elly De La Cruz into the leadoff spot. The move came out of necessity, but for a stretch it looked like it helped steady the club.
After a miserable June that saw the Reds go 9-17, they bounced back in July with a 13-12 mark, and De La Cruz’s rise to No. 1 lined up with that turnaround. He was scorching hot at the time, which made the decision look even better.
But August has changed the picture. De La Cruz has gone cold, hitting just .149/.247/.254 this month, and Cincinnati’s momentum has started to slip again. That slump also appears to have clarified Francona’s preference.
“Truthfully, I’d prefer him not to be (hitting leadoff),” Francona said. “I’m not taking a shot at him.
He can hit anywhere he wants. He’s good.
I don’t know that right now we have a guy who we feel like could do that every day. When him and Sal (Stewart) don’t get hits, it gets pretty glaring for us.
That’s a big load for them. Not altogether fair.”
That’s a pretty clear admission that the Reds have leaned too heavily on De La Cruz and Sal Stewart, two of the few bats that have consistently mattered in the lineup. It also suggests the front office may spend the offseason looking for a more traditional leadoff option - one built more around contact, speed, and table-setting than power.
The catch is that those players are hard to find.
If Cincinnati wants a classic leadoff hitter on the free-agent market, the options are thin, and the price tags could be a problem. The class does include some accomplished hitters, but many don’t really match that old-school profile, and even fewer seem realistic for the Reds’ budget.
Luis Arraez stands out as the cleanest fit on paper. The three-time batting champ could also slide in as the team’s second baseman and replace the struggling Matt McLain.
Still, even Arraez doesn’t check every box for a pure leadoff man. He brings elite bat-to-ball ability, but not quite the plate discipline and speed you’d want from the classic mold.
That’s why Cincinnati may need to accept what the modern game has become. Players with all the traditional leadoff traits are rare, and Francona acknowledged there are real arguments for keeping De La Cruz right where he is.
"There are arguments to and against,” Francona said, regarding De La Cruz staying in the leadoff spot. “He’s going to hit more times (when he’s at the top of the order), but he might hit with less men on base.”
And De La Cruz does have more of those leadoff ingredients than he’s sometimes given credit for. He’s a switch hitter with strong plate discipline, and his 11.1% walk rate would be a career-high if it holds. He also brings elite speed, with his 67-steal season in 2024 looking like the kind of production that would have fit perfectly atop a lineup decades ago.
The tradeoff is the strikeouts, which can blunt how often he puts the ball in play. Even so, he may still be Cincinnati’s best answer.
What the Reds can’t afford to miss is the bigger point: they need offense badly. With few perfect fits available and money working against them, the smartest move may be to add the best hitter they can reasonably get, then sort out the lineup from there.
Francona may prefer a different leadoff man, but Cincinnati’s offseason priority is bigger than one spot in the batting order. They need runs, and they need flexibility to find them.
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