Cincinnati Reds surge to No. 6 in MLB Power Rankings

· Yahoo Sports

At 18-10 and atop the National League Central on Monday, April 27, the Cincinnati Redshave advanced to No. 6 in the latest Major League Baseball Power Rankings.

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Previously at No. 9, the Reds are now No. 6, according to MLB.com's Will Leitch. Here's what he had to say:

Until their loss on Sunday, the Reds were on an absolute heater, and while a lot of that is because they keep winning so many one-run games (still 7-0 in them), they’re also hitting more of late: They were averaging nearly six runs a game over their past 12 games coming into Sunday.

Only the Dodgers, Yankees, Braves, Cubs and Padres are currently ahead of the Reds.

Reds power surge led by rookie Sal Stewart, Elly De La Cruz

As of Monday, April 27, Stewart leads all of baseball with 29 runs batted in. Coming into the Sunday, April 26 game with Detroit. Stewart was dominant among rookies, leading in hits, homers, RBI, stolen bases and total bases.

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Stewart is at .291 with nine homers, 29 RBI and seven steals. De La Cruz is hitting 270 with nine homers, 20 RBI and six steals. Projecting forward, both players would finish with over 50 homers with well over 100 RBI and 30, maybe even 40-plus stolen bags.

No MLB team has ever had such happen. Until Shohei Ohtani clubbed 54 homers and swiped 59 bases in 2024, no one player had ever reached 50 round-trippers with 30 stolen bases.

Which Cincinnati Reds records could fall?

George Foster is the only Cincinnati Red to hit 50-plus home runs, knocking 52 out of the yard in 1977. The man known as "Yahtzee" drove in 149 runs that year, but had just six stolen bases. Foster still holds the franchise home run and RBI records.

The 1987 season of Eric Davis comes close to what Stewart and De La Cruz are doing, combining power and speed. Davis hit 37 home runs, drove in 100 runs and had 50 steals that season.

Coming close to 50 home runs for the Reds were Eugenio Suarez with 49 in 2019, Ted Kluszewski with 49 in 1954 and 47 in 1955, Adam Dunn with 46 in 2004 and Johnny Bench (45 in 1970) and Greg Vaughn (45 in 1999).

In modern-day baseball, Eric Davis is tops in steals with 80, though several Reds from 1911 and in the previous century had more. Davis did that in 132 games and added 27 homers and 71 RBI.

Top Cincinnati Reds power tandems

Stewart and De La Cruz would surely make headlines if both surpassed 50 home runs, which realistically is a long shot. You would have to go back to the 1961 Yankees with Roger Maris at 61 home runs and Mickey Mantle with 54 for a comparison.

The Reds have twice had two players hit 40 or more home runs. In 1955, Ted Kluszewski, who would go onto the be the hitting coach of the "Big Red Machine" of the 1970s, hit 47 with teammate Wally Post hitting 40.

In 1970, Johnny Bench had 45 homers and drove in 148 runs, with teammate Tony Perez finishing with 40 homers and 129 RBI. Both are in Cooperstown. For good measure, that year Lee May had 34 homers and 94 RBI. But the '70 Reds finished with 191 home runs, short of the team record of 227 in 2019

The 2019 got 49 from Suarez, but Yasiel Puig was the only other player over 20 with 22. Next in line were Derek Dietrich and Aristides Aquino with 19 apiece. Only Suarez remains in the big leagues.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Reds No. 6 in MLB power rankings

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