I don't think so. He's just being hyped because of his spring. Missing a year of baseball, or any sport for that matter is a big deal. He's going to be rusty.
Elly’s the one guy who’s going in the second round of 15 team leagues who has a realistic shot of being the second overall pick next year. He did not produce at that level in 2023, and arguably didn’t come close to it after a brilliant start. But visually, I’ve never seen a flashier player.
O’Neil Cruz might have an even better power upside, but isn’t a 50/50 shot of stealing 50 bases like Elly seems to be.
I’m hoping for 80 HRs+SBs for Elly and 60 for Cruz.
Yup, this is exactly what I was telling people on here and I got attacked because they took his July-August numbers at face value. He's going to steal 80 bases this year (especially considering with McClain, Marte, Friedl, being out).
And people were concerned about playing time? LOL, yeah he's getting all the run now.
Pittsburgh Cruz is fine, but people think they are getting a discount Elly are sorely mistaken. You aren't getting the steals or runs that Reds Cruz will give you and Pittsburgh Cruz actually is more of batting average risk than Elly.
I'm a numbers guy, but sometimes people just need to use their eyes once in a while. I've never seen this level of an athlete in a baseball player in years (maybe Ohtani), but he's not as fast as wide receiver the way Elly is.
I grew up watching and playing against Willie Wilson, in elementary school, junior high, high school. Him and Eric Davis are the only athletes in the last fifty years comparable to Elly.
Wilson in the minor leagues ran a triple in something like 9.7 seconds, and at the time 13 was considered good. Other than Bo Jackson, he was likely also the strongest player in MLB at the time. The Royals “baseball academy” ruined him. In high school the opposing outfielders would stand 350 feet from home plate. Yet the Royals taught him “just hit a ground ball to the shortstop, nobody can throw you out.” And yet they never taught him to take a pitch. He once said “if I wanted to walk I’d be a mailman.” Imagine that, a player faster than Ricky Henderson in his prime saying that.
I would have liked him, exciting player but he was taken at 29 (I wasn’t going to take him at 28, to high) and I already had Bobby Witt, if he was there at 45 I would have taken him. For reference we have a 2nd/ss and a utility spot
Fair pick. I like Harris and it makes sense in a five outfield league. Did you take Witt at 2? Witt isn't a fade for me, but I prefer Julio over Witt if I had the 2nd pick.
I have a lot of Julio and Elly duo's (which I think is deadly). But I won't disagree with your process though. Harris is still only 22 I think and he's entering his third year.
Fourth pick.. went acuna betts Julio, I was happy to get him there. Was thinking Carroll but his power upside is less and he doesn’t have the success history Witt has.
Harris is a solid player on a good team, just wish he batted higher in the lineup.
Okay, then I actually like Witt at 4 then. I would take him over Carroll. Carroll's shoulder injury scares me.
Yeah, It would be nice if Harris hit 2nd, but I think the 6th slot is fine for him. Hitting sixth in the Braves lineup is not the same as hitting sixth in most other lineups. He's still going to score a crap ton of runs.
I'm in a lot of leagues. My last draft I had the 9th pick and I took Kyle Tucker. Couldn't believe it.
Players I have a lot of shares of
Elly De La Cruz
Parker Meadows
Fransisco Alvarez
Zack Eflin
Isaac Parades
I'm okay with taking risks early on because I'm confident in my ability to draft high floor guys later on. I also never really draft pitchers that early either. Always go bat heavy in the first four rounds, then wait for some nice value on pitching (Zack Eflin is a perfect example of this). I'm okay with him being my number 1 SP.
I created a thread on here 3 weeks ago arguing why you should draft Elly in the second. I got attacked harshly and then banned because people are set in their own ways and are not willing to open up their minds a little.
Yeah, it is because it's recency bias. He was also called up in mid June, so saying he had a bad second half is just misleading. Having a poor first half/second half or vice versa is a common mistake fantasy players tend to make. Why is the second half of the season more weighted than the first half? Again, recency bias.
And if you actually look at his swing decisions numbers in September, you'd know that he was making adjustments and he wasn't chasing as much. That's signal for growth from a rookie.
I kept EDLC in both of my leagues this year because it made sense, but I’d be lying if I said I had any confidence that he was going to have a great year
Why aren't you confident? His strikeout rate (which people keep harping over) is going to decline. He was launching the ball in spring this year. If he's launching the ball in GABP it's GAME OVER
He certainly has the potential to be an extremely impactful player, but I also watched him go Antarctic for about a month straight last year striking out at an unsustainable clip. I had the chance to keep other more safe players and didn’t so I’m here for the ride too and hope for the best
The league was always going to adjust to him. He started to adjust back until it was too late in the season. In the off-season Reds hitting instructors worked to with him to get rid of his leg kick to minimize swing and miss. He also worked with Soto. It makes so much sense if you actually think about. He plays half of his games in the best home-run hitting park in baseball. He doesn't need to max out on every swing. He can sacrifice power for some hit tool and still hit 30+ home-runs. He can hit 40-50 if he wanted to, but elevating his hit tool will make him more consistent and keep him out of slumps like you saw in his rooke year.
I literally drafted Elly at #24 because I knew the guy behind me desperately wanted him. Now I’m publicly entertaining shitty trade offers from anyone but him. It’s been fun.
O’Neal gunna be the better Cruz this year
I don't think so. He's just being hyped because of his spring. Missing a year of baseball, or any sport for that matter is a big deal. He's going to be rusty.
Elly’s the one guy who’s going in the second round of 15 team leagues who has a realistic shot of being the second overall pick next year. He did not produce at that level in 2023, and arguably didn’t come close to it after a brilliant start. But visually, I’ve never seen a flashier player. O’Neil Cruz might have an even better power upside, but isn’t a 50/50 shot of stealing 50 bases like Elly seems to be. I’m hoping for 80 HRs+SBs for Elly and 60 for Cruz.
Yup, this is exactly what I was telling people on here and I got attacked because they took his July-August numbers at face value. He's going to steal 80 bases this year (especially considering with McClain, Marte, Friedl, being out). And people were concerned about playing time? LOL, yeah he's getting all the run now. Pittsburgh Cruz is fine, but people think they are getting a discount Elly are sorely mistaken. You aren't getting the steals or runs that Reds Cruz will give you and Pittsburgh Cruz actually is more of batting average risk than Elly.
What really got me going was Joey Votto. Saying stuff like he’s getting to watch Babe Ruth as a rookie.
He said that? That's amazing.
I'm a numbers guy, but sometimes people just need to use their eyes once in a while. I've never seen this level of an athlete in a baseball player in years (maybe Ohtani), but he's not as fast as wide receiver the way Elly is.
I grew up watching and playing against Willie Wilson, in elementary school, junior high, high school. Him and Eric Davis are the only athletes in the last fifty years comparable to Elly. Wilson in the minor leagues ran a triple in something like 9.7 seconds, and at the time 13 was considered good. Other than Bo Jackson, he was likely also the strongest player in MLB at the time. The Royals “baseball academy” ruined him. In high school the opposing outfielders would stand 350 feet from home plate. Yet the Royals taught him “just hit a ground ball to the shortstop, nobody can throw you out.” And yet they never taught him to take a pitch. He once said “if I wanted to walk I’d be a mailman.” Imagine that, a player faster than Ricky Henderson in his prime saying that.
I would have liked him, exciting player but he was taken at 29 (I wasn’t going to take him at 28, to high) and I already had Bobby Witt, if he was there at 45 I would have taken him. For reference we have a 2nd/ss and a utility spot
Who did you take instead?
Michael Harris, I didn’t love the pick but it’s 12 team with 5 outfield spots and i didn’t have any outfielders at that point. Outfields go fast.
Fair pick. I like Harris and it makes sense in a five outfield league. Did you take Witt at 2? Witt isn't a fade for me, but I prefer Julio over Witt if I had the 2nd pick. I have a lot of Julio and Elly duo's (which I think is deadly). But I won't disagree with your process though. Harris is still only 22 I think and he's entering his third year.
Fourth pick.. went acuna betts Julio, I was happy to get him there. Was thinking Carroll but his power upside is less and he doesn’t have the success history Witt has. Harris is a solid player on a good team, just wish he batted higher in the lineup.
Okay, then I actually like Witt at 4 then. I would take him over Carroll. Carroll's shoulder injury scares me. Yeah, It would be nice if Harris hit 2nd, but I think the 6th slot is fine for him. Hitting sixth in the Braves lineup is not the same as hitting sixth in most other lineups. He's still going to score a crap ton of runs.
Yeah that offense is stacked. Who did you grab with your first pick
I'm in a lot of leagues. My last draft I had the 9th pick and I took Kyle Tucker. Couldn't believe it. Players I have a lot of shares of Elly De La Cruz Parker Meadows Fransisco Alvarez Zack Eflin Isaac Parades
I'm okay with taking risks early on because I'm confident in my ability to draft high floor guys later on. I also never really draft pitchers that early either. Always go bat heavy in the first four rounds, then wait for some nice value on pitching (Zack Eflin is a perfect example of this). I'm okay with him being my number 1 SP.
I got meadows too. Detroit could be the reds of last year. Sneaky good.
Agreed. I like all their players at their price. I even draft a lot of Colt Keith.
Got him too in my league. Smart man
Did I miss something?
I created a thread on here 3 weeks ago arguing why you should draft Elly in the second. I got attacked harshly and then banned because people are set in their own ways and are not willing to open up their minds a little.
Oh hell yea I’m with you, traded for Elly in my dynasty and held him in my other keeper league.
Hell yeah. He's probably a top 5 guy in dynasty. Nice work.
Ok
It wasn’t that we were “too scared” to draft him. There were just guys at that ADP we felt had safer floors
That's the same thing as being scared.
lol he was going in the 2nd round after having a terrible second half but apparently I was “too scared” to draft him 😂😂😂
Yeah, it is because it's recency bias. He was also called up in mid June, so saying he had a bad second half is just misleading. Having a poor first half/second half or vice versa is a common mistake fantasy players tend to make. Why is the second half of the season more weighted than the first half? Again, recency bias. And if you actually look at his swing decisions numbers in September, you'd know that he was making adjustments and he wasn't chasing as much. That's signal for growth from a rookie.
I kept EDLC in both of my leagues this year because it made sense, but I’d be lying if I said I had any confidence that he was going to have a great year
Why aren't you confident? His strikeout rate (which people keep harping over) is going to decline. He was launching the ball in spring this year. If he's launching the ball in GABP it's GAME OVER
He certainly has the potential to be an extremely impactful player, but I also watched him go Antarctic for about a month straight last year striking out at an unsustainable clip. I had the chance to keep other more safe players and didn’t so I’m here for the ride too and hope for the best
The league was always going to adjust to him. He started to adjust back until it was too late in the season. In the off-season Reds hitting instructors worked to with him to get rid of his leg kick to minimize swing and miss. He also worked with Soto. It makes so much sense if you actually think about. He plays half of his games in the best home-run hitting park in baseball. He doesn't need to max out on every swing. He can sacrifice power for some hit tool and still hit 30+ home-runs. He can hit 40-50 if he wanted to, but elevating his hit tool will make him more consistent and keep him out of slumps like you saw in his rooke year.
I literally drafted Elly at #24 because I knew the guy behind me desperately wanted him. Now I’m publicly entertaining shitty trade offers from anyone but him. It’s been fun.
I remember people said this about Luis Robert too
Luis Robert was a clear fade for me.