De La Cruz, CES resume baseball activities

PHILADELPHIA -- Two injured Reds prospects -- shortstop Elly De La Cruz and corner infielder Christian Encarnacion-Strand -- have resumed baseball activities, but neither has a specific timetable yet to make his regular-season debut with Triple-A Louisville.

De La Cruz, who is ranked the No. 1 prospect in the organization and No. 8 overall by MLB Pipeline, has been working his way back from a left hamstring strain he sustained late in Spring Training. His original timetable was to get into games by Wednesday.

Encarnacion-Strand, ranked No. 7 in the organization, has been out with a slight herniation in his back, and the hope was he would be ready by April 24.

According to Reds vice president of player development Shawn Pender, both prospects still needed to get at-bats at extended spring before a specific return date can be determined. Pender noted that everything appeared to be on track with their recoveries, however.

In 12 spring games, the 21-year-old De La Cruz went 5-for-25 (.200) with one home run, two triples and five RBIs. The 23-year-old Encarnacion-Strand batted .577 with a 1.748 OPS, four homers and 13 RBIs in 12 spring games.

Here are other items from the Reds Minor League system:

Triple-A Louisville:
With De La Cruz out, Matt McLain (No. 6), has played seven of his eight games at shortstop entering Sunday. The other was at second base. McLain already has two homers this spring, including a two-run drive vs. Indianapolis on Thursday.

Double-A Chattanooga:
Left-handed starting pitcher Andrew Abbott (No. 11), opened the Lookouts' season on Thursday by throwing 4 2/3 hitless innings with one walk and 11 strikeouts. Chattanooga went on to win, 6-3, in 11 innings.

On Saturday, Chattanooga managed a wild 7-5 seven-inning victory over Rocket City in Game 1 of a doubleheader without notching a hit. The Lookouts scored all seven of their runs in the top of the seventh on five walks, four hit-by-pitches, an error and a wild pitch in what has to be one of the nuttiest outcomes in recent Minor League memory.

High-A Dayton:
The club's No. 3 prospect, shortstop Edwin Arroyo (No. 41 overall), was assigned to the Dragons after he spent 2022 in Single-A with the Mariners and Reds. Arroyo, still only 19, was among the prospect haul Cincinnati acquired in the July 2022 trade that sent starter Luis Castillo to Seattle. He entered Sunday 3-for-9 in his first three games of '23.

Single-A Daytona:
In the Tortugas' season opener on Friday, a 7-6 win over St. Lucie, 2022 first-round pick Cam Collier went 2-for-3 with a double, three walks and three RBIs. The third baseman is ranked No. 4 in the organization and No. 66 overall.