Cincinnati Reds Legend Makes Bold Claim About Current Superstar

There have been few things to be proud of with the 2024 edition of the Cincinnati Reds. A team with division-winning aspirations is currently sitting at 64-70 with 28 games to go. The NL Central is well out of the realm of possibilities for the Reds and a Wild Card looks to be just as unattainable.

However, in a bit of chit-chat between the two Bally Sports commentators, there was some serious Elly De La Cruz praise.

Barry Larkin , alongside his partner John Sadak, was talking about retired numbers in Reds history. Larkin's 11 is one of 10 Reds legends who have had their numbers retired along with Jackie Robinson 's 42.

Sadak was reminiscing about some of the great Reds players to wear 44 because Charlie Leibrandt 's son Brandon Leibrandt came in to pitch. Charlie Leibrandt pitched for the Reds from 1979-1982 and sported 44. A few other big names did as well.

Eric Davis .

Adam Dunn .

Aristides Aquino (sure, he isn't among the Reds legends but that was a fun stretch of games in August 2019, wasn't it?).

Elly De La Cruz.

With the conversation shifting to De La Cruz, Larkin said, "after it's all said and done with this young man, nobody will wear that number after him."

One of the greatest Cincinnati Reds of all time insinuated that De La Cruz is going to have a career worthy of retiring the number 44.

Of course, the number probably should have been retired after Davis...and again after Dunn.

Davis' career offensive bWAR of 34.5 ranks 12th in the history of Reds position players. Dunn's 24.9 offensive bWAR is 20th.

There's no doubt De La Cruz is a special athlete. If he can continue to grow and develop, he can be one of the best to do it in Cincinnati. If Larkin is recognizing the young shortstop's efforts just 230 games into his career, you know there's something to it.

Despite playing for a disappointing team, De La Cruz will likely garner a few down-ballot MVP votes this year. Obviously Shohei Ohtani and Francisco Lindor have been incredible but De La Cruz should earn a few votes further down the ballot.

Heading into 2025, it'll be full steam ahead.