READING, Pa. — Not many prospects stand out quite like Carlos De La Cruz.
And it’s not just because he’s nearly a foot taller than many of his teammates.
A 6-foot-8-inch behemoth of a ballplayer, the raw power from the right-handed-hitting outfielder’s bat is tantalizing. He’s possibly the most intriguing player in the entire Philadelphia Phillies minor-league system, with a frame and skill set that’s nearly impossible to duplicate.
“There’s obviously a lot of potential there,” Reading Fightin’ Phils hitting coach Brock Stassi said Tuesday inside the new clubhouse at FirstEnergy Stadium on the team’s media day. Stassi — a former Phillies big leaguer now in his third stint in Reading after two as a player — has seen a lot in baseball, but perhaps no one like De La Cruz. The two will now work together as De La Cruz repeats Double-A to start the 2024 season. The club opens up Eastern League play at Bowie on Friday.
“The size that he has and the game-changing power that he brings to the plate every time he steps up, it’s something you dream about,” Stassi said. “I wish I had that frame, you know?”
Sure, that frame helps bring De La Cruz his greatest strength, his power, but also contributes to his most glaring flaw. With a large strike zone to cover and lengthy arms to whip his bat around with, the prospect struggles with strikeout issues. A lot of moving parts — big parts — have to come together for him to make contact. There hasn’t been many successful hitters at his size.
De La Cruz is working to buck a historical trend that’s working against him. Position players of his stature are a rarity in Major League Baseball. Only five non-pitchers at 6-foot-7 or taller have ever played 100 games or more in a season (while Pittsburgh’s Oneil Cruz could play his way onto that list this season). Tony Clark and Nate Freiman are the only position players listed at 6-foot-8 to appear in the big leagues; Clark, a first-round pick in 1990 and an All-Star in 2001, is the only one at his height to serve as a regular in the majors.
As a former undrafted free agent with long levers and a tendency to chase pitches, De La Cruz is facing an uphill battle. But the unique athlete is confident he has the tools and mindset to continue his development and make an impact at the major-league level.
“For the most part, I just need to trust myself,” De La Cruz said. “Trust my abilities, trust what got me here. After that, just keep building. I know it’s going to be a tough journey, just because of my body type. But I should make it work. It should be a good thing for me at the end of the day, trying to make what’s best for me and go off my strengths.”
De La Cruz broke out with 17 home runs and an .815 OPS in 102 games between High-A Jersey Shore and Reading in 2022. He followed it up with 24 homers in 129 games for the Fightins last season. He’s certainly come a long way since signing with the Phillies out of George Washington High School in New York City in 2017. But, with 160 strikeouts in 2023, De La Cruz still hasn’t proven himself as a complete player. That’s why Philadelphia didn’t add him to the 40-man roster this past offseason and other clubs declined to select him in the Rule 5 draft.
At 24 years old, this season in Reading is make-or-break for De La Cruz, who is set to become a minor-league free agent at the end of the year. This is his chance to crack the Phillies 40-man roster or prove he can contribute elsewhere in the future.
De La Cruz is serious about his preparation for this season. With a chance to spend the spring in big-league camp, he took some pointers from Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber on his day-to-day routine. The stocky 6-foot designated hitter was a great example for De La Cruz of how a boom-or-bust power hitter can take his walks and give a professional plate appearance.
“You could say we have the same batting stance but different body types,” De La Cruz said of Schwarber. “Just trying to see what he does and pick the good things out of him should help me in my approach, too.”
The most important thing, however, will be for De La Cruz to hit the ball on a more consistent basis. Second-year Fightins manager Al Pedrique put it best, in the simplest terms.
“The main goal for him,” he said, “is to increase the walks, cut down the strikeouts.”
Last season, De La Cruz had a 27.5% strikeout rate compared to a 9.2% walk rate. It’ll be a challenge and his body will provide some limits, but those need to come closer together in 2024. After the organization had him play the majority of his games at first base for the first time in 2023, he’ll mostly stick to the outfield this year to keep his focus on his work in the batter’s box. De La Cruz wants to keep refining his approach and be “very stubborn” in adhering to a game plan that keeps him from chasing out of the zone and better attacking the pitches that come to him.
“Once I can cut those (strikeouts) down,” he said, “I think I’ll be in a good place.”
With these adjustments in how he’ll attack the game and opposing pitchers, the hope is that De La Cruz can further tap into his power and ride that into Triple-A Lehigh Valley and beyond. And if all goes to plan, Clark and Freiman might have some company in the 6-foot-8 big-league hitter club.
“I keep trusting myself,” De La Cruz said. “I never doubt myself. … It’s an obstacle, my body type, just understanding myself. But, at the end of the day, keep trusting the process.”
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