Elly De La Cruz came into MLB as a bit of a prodigy. This six-foot five inch shortstop made waves because of his height at the position and his striking profile. The power he has shown is extraordinary but it comes at a cost — swings and misses. His 34.6% miss rate is the fourth highest mark in the National League. He sits at 72 strikeouts on the season.
While the pop and swing and miss are intriguing parts of his game, his speed is his best skill. De La Cruz has stolen 31 bases this season, most in MLB with a third of the season completed. He projects to have 93 stolen bases on the season and 216 strikeouts.
How many times has a player stolen 75 or more bases and struck out 200 or more times in MLB? It has never been done before. Here are all the seasons with at least 75 stolen bases and 100 strikeouts:
Funnily enough all of these historic seasons have occurred in the National League Central. And here is just how much of an outlier this season would be for De La Cruz.
The first two red dots show De La Cruz’s 2023 season and his 2023 162-game pace. The dot all alone to the right would be his historic 2024 season if his current pace keeps up. How many strikeouts and stolen bases will De La Cruz have to end the season?