ORLANDO, Fla. -- With the benefit of hindsight, Reds manager Terry Francona wished he handled things differently with how often he played All-Star shortstop Elly De La Cruz.
De La Cruz played 162 games -- with 161 starts -- during the 2025 season plus two postseason games, but also showed diminished offensive output throughout the second half while playing through a nagging left quadriceps strain.
"There were a lot of things going on. I think I need to take responsibility -- and I have, and I will," Francona said on Monday during the Winter Meetings. "I need to find ways to get him off his feet from time to time, and I didn't do a very good job of that, and I own up to that."
The 23-year-old De La Cruz also didn't miss a game despite the tragic death of his sister on May 31. He even pushed back when Francona used him as his designated hitter in four games.
"I love the fact that he wants to play, and he's one of the rare guys where he can bring energy every day, which is really amazing," Francona said. "But saying that, he gets beat up so much. Sometimes the day game [off] after the night game might be really helpful for him."
De La Cruz, who turns 24 on Jan. 11, batted .264 with a .776 OPS, 22 homers, 86 RBIs and 37 steals last season as the Reds reached the postseason as the third National League Wild Card team.
After hitting 18 homers over his first 79 games and 302 at-bats, De La Cruz slugged only four more homers in his remaining 83 games and 327 at-bats of the season.
Francona didn't have a target for how many games De La Cruz would play in 2026.
“I don’t think there’s a number. But I also think if you wait to a certain point, like I did last year, you wait too long," he said. "I’m not sure a day is going to do a whole lot of good in September. I think you have to be proactive and I just need to explain it to him better to make him understand. … I just need to do a better job of managing that and I will.”
As for the overall club next season, Francona wants to build on the 83-77 campaign from his first year of managing Cincinnati. The Reds were swept in two games by the Dodgers in the NL Wild Card Series.
"Our goal isn't to win 83 games," Francona said. "I do think getting into the playoffs, as long as our trajectory is going this way [showing upward], that's good. I don't want us to be, like, 'the feel good story,' that was a good little story, and we fall back to whatever.
"I think we all got a taste of what it can feel like to pop champagne, which is good. Then a couple days later, we also felt the sting of getting beat up two quick games and getting sent home before you want to. I told our guys to remember both those feelings."