Why MLB should honor Cincinnati Reds' Elly De La Cruz' sovereign air space | Press Box Wag

CHICAGO — Despite what many baseball purists believe, MLB made a lot of the right move with rules changes meant to improve the game in recent seasons.

Next comes the challenge of solving unintended consequences that have cropped up to undermine the reasons behind some of those rules were devised in the first place (and, no, leave the pitch clocks alone).

Witness the one time Cincinnati Reds power-speed phenom Elly De La Cruz was caught stealing so far this season, right after that bunt single in the second game of the season — when he beat the throw to second but was ruled to have come off the base by perhaps an inch for all of a split-second as the second baseman held the tag.

Pitch timers, step-off limits and bigger bases have successfully been implemented last year to ramp up action in the game and encourage teams to sharply increase their steal attempts — by a whopping 33 percent in the first year.

But the collision between those new rules and the decade-old replay-review system threatens to temper the incentive MLB is trying to encourage — with fielders coached to hold the tags for potential disengagements and replay challenges (the De La Cruz out was challenged; the call stood because it was too difficult to tell whether he came off the bag).

That incident is just one of a rash of pop-off caught stealings since the new rule was put into effect.

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In other words, what are we doing here?

If the idea is to get the game moving on the bases, and let athletes show their athleticism, then why are we penalizing the most powerful, fastest athletes when their power and speed are the things that make it more difficult to evade the micro-moment disengagement of the bag that the camera picks up — or, in the case of the EDLC example, that the umpire is now trained to look for?

De La Cruz thinks he has a solution: “Slide earlier.”

He hasn’t been caught since. But theoretically he hasn’t been caught at all, having initially beaten that throw a couple weeks ago.

And if we’re looking to make the game more entertaining and action-filled like previous generations, then let’s go back to the spirit of the play in those days: Beat the throw, get the base.

The way to make it work comes down to two simple words: sovereign airspace.

If the runner beats the throw to the bag, he is then entitled to the airspace over the bag through the conclusion of the play — still subject to being tagged out if he completely slides past the bag or loses contact on a drive-by slide but maintaining possession of the bag if any part of his body remains over its airspace.

It preserves the spirit of the existing rules. And it’s not even radical compared to, say, enlarging the bases, or when considering the game’s origins in the 1800s, when “bases” were poles.

Reds manager David Bell said he’s heard it talked about and that he’s been told it won’t happen.

But it should. Now.

Oops, He Did It Again

Already having knocked two pitchers out of the big leagues in a week with big hits, Spencer Steer did it again Monday with a decisive two-run double against Milwaukee’s Aaron Ashby near the end of a long fourth inning.

Ashby was optioned to the minors the next day.

Memo to White Sox pitcher Chris Flexen: Watch your back. The double and walk you gave up Steer in that abbreviated outing you called “terrible” Friday could be more terrible than you thought. Even lethal.

Just ask Shohei Ohtani. Steer was the last batter to reach base against the two-way superstar — who threw one more pitch and hasn’t pitched since.

The Big Number: 343

That’s how many days it was between starts for left-hander Nick Lodolo, who returned to the Reds’ rotation Saturday against the White Sox after nearly a year recovering and rehabbing from a left leg injury.

Talk about picking up where he left off. His last start before going on the IL last year was his first career start against the White Sox, May 6.

No Roster Relief?

Right-hander Ian Gibaut, the workhorse reliever who finished one off the league lead in appearances last season, could return to the Reds’ bullpen by the end of the week after working back from an early spring forearm strain.

Then what?

Only two current Reds relievers on the roster can be optioned to the minors: All-Star closer Alexis Diaz and Fernando Cruz, who might be their best swing-and-miss escape artist.

Anyone else would require a move that risks losing them from the organization (assuming no IL qualifiers).

Among the starters, Hunter Greene, Graham Ashcraft and Andrew Abbott all have minor-league options left (along with Nick Lodolo, who just returned from the IL Saturday).

Just saying. In case anyone wondered why the Reds keep saying Nick Martinez’ starter-reliever role for the next week or so isn’t settled.

He Said It

“If you’re a baseball fan you have to enjoy every second of that. And there weren’t many seconds.”

*Bell on Elly De La Cruz’s inside-the-park home run Monday.

The fastest player in the majors took 14.9 seconds from contact to crossing the plate — the switch-hitter pulling that off despite the extra step from the righty batter’s box.

Streak Attack

The Reds’ immovable No. 3 hitter in the order the first two weeks of the season, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, was in the midst of his second hitless streak of 12-plate appearances already this season when Bell was asked early in the week about what he thought about the second-year man’s first big slump of his career — or if it even seemed like a slump to Bell.

“Clearly it doesn’t, because I didn’t know or feel that,” Bell said. “I feel like when he doesn’t get the results on a particular at-bat, he’s super close. I wouldn’t classify it in any certain way. I would just say he’s either right there or he’s real close to being right where he needs to be.”

The next day, CES had two hits and took a 4-for-11 stretch that included a walk and three RBIs into Saturday’s game against the White Sox.

That’s the thing about the young slugger. He might be as naturally streaky as any hitter in the Reds lineup. Consider his first 36 plate appearances of the season, broken down in 12-PA segments:

• 0-for-12, 4 strikeouts

• 5-for-12, home run, two doubles, four RBIs

• 0-for-11, sacrifice fly, three strikeouts

It’s those 5-for-12s with the extra-base hits that allow you live with the others as he continues to develop.

But maybe just not for this long in the three hole?

They Got His Number

When touted Baltimore Orioles prospect Jackson Holliday was able to secure his dad Matt’s old St. Louis Cardinals No. 7 for his big-league debut, it was noticed by more than one MLB royal family.

Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. tweeted that his family was “thrilled” Holliday would wear Cal Sr.’s longtime number with the Orioles.

And former Cardinals coach Bell took note, with reminiscent pride.

Bell, who wears his dad’s and grandfather’s No. 25 as manager of the Reds, knows the Holliday family well from the days little Jackson and his brother would tag along with Matt at Busch Stadium and in spring training.

“I would imagine that there’s a lot of meaning to wearing the same number. I know how close they are,” Bell said. “That was cool for our family to see Jackson on TV the other night.”

Bell also wore 25 as a player in St. Louis, Seattle, Milwaukee and Philadelphia (in 2006, the year after Jim Thome left).

“The times that I was able to get it, it meant a lot,” Bell said. “If there’s one thing as a player that I use the word ‘proud’ of, that really meant a lot to me, it was my family history.

“It’s just a number, but it does mean a lot.”

Did You Know

De La Cruz, who struggled batting righty against left-handers as a rookie last year, was off to a 5-for-17 start against lefties this year, with the inside-the-park homer, a double, two walks and a .929 OPS.

And how big, by the way, might his ability to bunt occasionally for a hit this year play? One of those five right-handed hits was that bunt in the second game. Making those numbers look that much better through two-plus weeks.

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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Sovereign air space now for EDLC, other speedsters | Press Box Wag