St. Louis Reporter Criticizes Elly De La Cruz for Canceling Stuart Fairchild

But some argued after catching Alec Burleson’s pop-up in shallow center that the Reds could have prevented the only run that ended up scoring in Friday’s 1-0 loss at St. Louis by allowing outfielder Stuart Fairchild to catch the ball instead.

Gordon Wittenmyer of The Enquirer described the play as follows: “Shortstop Elly De La Cruz caught (the ball)…rather than allowing center fielder Stuart Fairchild to catch it.” His throw to the plate was late and wide as the speedy Michael Siani scored. »

“If Stu goes in to catch that ball, (they) probably won’t run there,” Reds manager David Bell said afterward. “They did a good job spotting it. We teach the same thing. A lot of times you’re kind of backing off, thinking it might fall. You see so many times an infielder come back, it’s a tough play. Elly is so good with his back to the ball. We want the ball in Elly’s hands. Right off the bat, it was a pop-up in the infield. But to answer your question, if Stu can read that and charge to make the play, it probably could have stopped that run.”