How going small added a big weapon for Elly De La Cruz, playoff-minded Cincinnati Reds

PHILADELPHIA — When the division-rival Milwaukee Brewers first learned this spring that Cincinnati Reds unicorn Elly De La Cruz had taken bunting lessons from Brett Butler, one of the best to ever do it, they laughed it off.

“Tell him I hope he bunts four times a game when he's playing us,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.

Said outfielder Sal Frelick: “That’s OK. We’ll just play him in so he can’t do it.”

The Brewers might want to be careful what they wish for when they come to town next week.

Because the weapon that was largely missing from De La Cruz’s arsenal last year – and was mere theory as recently as last month – became a reality almost as soon as the season began.

And what it might do to lessen slumps and open up the infield for the player who already runs faster than anyone else in the game, throws harder than anyone else in the game and hits the ball harder than almost anyone else – well, “it's unbelievable,” teammate TJ Friedl said.

Elly De La Cruz bunting more already for Reds

De La Cruz attempted bunts in three of the Reds’ first four games this year – bunting foul on the first pitch he saw this season and bunting for a hit to lead off a three-run fifth inning in the second game.

“If I see the opportunity, I want to do it,” De La Cruz said. "I'm ready to do everything that the team needs."

That was not the case last year, when Friedl was in his ear about bunting almost from the day EDLC debuted in June and for five weeks showed off one of the most electric skillsets in the sport.

“He kept saying, ‘You’ve got to bunt because it’s a free hit for you,’ “ De La Cruz said.

But the man who was clocked faster than anyone in baseball last year – and called himself the “fastest man in the world” during his second week in the big leagues – shied away from exploiting what should be a massive competitive advantage for him.

Veteran teammate Jeimer Candelario, who joined the club as a free agent this year and took De La Cruz under his wing, preached Friedl's sermon almost from the outset this spring – and he’s still encouraging him.

“I tell him, ‘Man, if you’ve got that weapon, to bunt and run, you’ve got to use it,’ ” Candelario said. “ ‘Whatever it takes to take you to the next level and help us win ballgames.’

“This guy can change the game quick. We need him on base as much as possible."

Nobody understands that better than Friedl, who led the majors with 17 bunt hits last year.

“With his speed he doesn’t have to be perfect,” Friedl said. “Sometimes I have to make it perfect. He just has to get the ball on the ground and run. He’s so fast and so long he can beat those out.”

In fact, De La Cruz, a switch-hitter, bunted from the right side Saturday for his hit and beat out the throw easily — albeit, on a well dropped bunt.

He also bunted foul, right-handed, in his first at-bat of this week’s series in Philadelphia and squared from the left side during a ninth-inning at-bat in that game Monday night.

By Tuesday, Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm was on the grass when De La Cruz stepped in for his first at-bat, batting lefty, opening up more of the left side of the infield for that other thing Candelario kept telling him this spring: “You don’t have to pull the ball to hit it hard.”

“That’s the biggest thing,” Friedl said. “I can think of maybe three or four hits for me personally last year where the third baseman was in and the shortstop was behind second base, and I probably hit a capper off the end (of the bat), which would have been a routine ground ball to third. But since he was so far in the ball got past him.

“It’s just the little games within the games like that, that not everyone sees with the naked eye.”

TJ Friedl an example of how bunting can change the game

It doesn’t take a genius to do the math.

Remove the 17 at-bats when Friedl got hits without swinging the bat, and his .279 season average is .244.

But ignore the bunt hits and just look at what the threat does to the infield alignment. If he got four hits swinging the bat that might have been outs, as he estimated – that’s worth nine points on last year’s average.

Now factor in De La Cruz’s best-in-league speed.

“It may be such a small thing, but what that does for the offense and the guys behind him (is big),” Friedl said. “He can lay down a bunt for a single and then steal two bases, and it’s just like a leadoff triple. What’s the difference? Two pitches.

“For him to get on base and create that chaos is huge.”

And if that added element to his presence in the box impacts not only the way the fielders play him but gives the pitcher something else to think about? You can start to see how the layers of impact start to add up in De La Cruz's favor.

'You’re playing with house money': The impact bunting can have

Maybe the biggest direct impact is what it can do for a slump, said Friedl and manager David Bell.

That was part of the message when Friedl kept getting in his ear least year, and when Friedl worked in the same back-field groups on the bunting this year, and with Butler echoing the same message.

“I just told him what a weapon it is for me to have, especially when my swing’s not feeling good or my timing’s off, something small like that,” Friedl said, “to have the bunting ability in my back pocket to just lay a bunt down, create havoc on the defense, make them make a play and what that does for my game and what that does for my confidence.

“You put a bunt down for a hit early in the game, it’s like you’re playing with house money after that,” he added. “Then you’re playing free, you’re playing loose, then you can be yourself, especially in times when you’re pressing. And that happens a lot in baseball.”

Maybe that’s why De La Cruz sounded so confident by the end of spring training despite finishing last season in slump of more than two months after that spectacular five-week start.

Elly De La Cruz more confident after never bunting in minors

Friedl said De La Cruz told him last year he didn’t have the confidence to bunt much, that if he bunted one foul he was especially reluctant to try again.

“I never bunted in the minor leagues,” De La Cruz said this week, adding that now, “I think I’m good at it.”

That’s about to change in a big way if things go as planned this season. Friedl said he noticed a big jump in De La Cruz’s ability to put down bunts all spring compared to last year.

“He was putting down really good bunts lefty and righty,” Friedl said. “He took a big step in the spring. Maybe in the offseason he worked on it, I don’t know. But in spring he worked on it a lot.

“This spring was the first time I’ve really watched him on the (velocity pitching) machine put down good bunts,” Friedl said. “He’s like, ‘I’ve always had the ability to bunt.’ But I guess it’s just the confidence behind it.”

What Brett Butler taught Elly De La Cruz

Several days of that was with Butler, the guest spring instructor and All-Star of the 1980s and ‘90s who was one of the best at bunting for hits in history.

As much as technique, Butler shared his experiences, defensive reads and overall approach to a skill that had largely disappeared from the game by the time MLB installed new rules to encourage the small-ball running game.

“That’s where it was great having Brett out there,” said Friedl, who said Butler helped him “immensely” when they worked together on the same things last spring.

“So coming from him to help Elly in terms of thinking when to bunt, good times to bunt, trusting your abilities – that was good for Elly to hear,” Friedl said. “So when he put that bunt down on Saturday against a lefty, I was so stoked.”

Especially after fouling one off the first time around. And having the confidence and will to do it again. Not to mention the several times since.

"You really have to commit to the process of it,” Friedl said. “So when he got to see that first one down, that’s huge. That’s what he needs. Because for him – I don’t even have his speed – he just needs to put it down.”

Because nobody's going to throw him out, right?

"No," De La Cruz said.

"No chance."

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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Elly De La Cruz will bunt more this season for the Cincinnati Reds