2023 Marlins Season Review: Bryan De La Cruz

[Ely Sussman]

Relive all of the ups and downs of the 2023 Miami Marlins with our Fish On First Season Review, containing detailed articles about a wide variety of players. The FOF staff analyzes the individual impact that each of them had and what it means for their future with the organization.

This installment focuses on outfielder Bryan De La Cruz.

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Season stats: 153 G, .257/.304/.411, 92 wRC+, 19 HR, 4 SB, 0.2 fWAR (age-26 season)

Bryan De La Cruz entered 2023 as a plausible breakout candidate for a Marlins team that sorely needed offensive help. He had been one of MLB's hottest hitters during the final weeks of the 2022 campaign. Even when he was slumping earlier that year, the abnormally large gap between his actual stats and his expected stats implied he had been victimized by lousy luck.

The Marlins committed to giving De La Cruz everyday playing time, eager to find out whether all the red on his Baseball Savant page would translate to more runs. Let the 2023 DLC experience serve as a reminder that Statcast data isn't always predictive.

Bryan De La Cruz's 2022 and 2023 Statcast percentile rankings | Baseball Savant

DLC was the offensive equivalent of an "innings-eater" for the Marlins this season. He was a durable floor-raiser who lengthened their lineup. He led the club with 78 RBIs and ranked second only to Jorge Soler with 51 extra-base hits. "Late & close" situations—as defined by Baseball-Reference—brought out the best in him.

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So...how come De La Cruz was merely a replacement-level player overall?

His on-base percentage was .304, significantly below the .331 mark for MLB left fielders. In addition to a mediocre walk rate, DLC was averse to getting hit by pitches, plunked only once in 626 plate appearances.

De La Cruz struggled to hit pitches on the outer third of the plate. Yes, he was susceptible to chasing waste pitches, but I'm referring to those that actually caught the corner or were close enough to offer at. Opponents could fearlessly attack him there—only one of his 19 home runs came against a pitch on the outer third.

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De La Cruz's effectiveness on defense continues to slip. His best asset used to be his arm strength, but the velocity of his average throw decreased from 91.0 mph in 2022 to 87.4 mph in 2023. He often gets bad jumps on fly balls. Despite Jazz Chisholm Jr. being absent for much of the season, De La Cruz only played two complete games in center field, and even that was two too many.

There were also several instances where miscommunications between DLC and his teammates led to embarrassing drops and near-collisions.

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It's an unfortunately similar story when it comes to baserunning: solid athleticism is not enough to compensate for poor instincts. De La Cruz made 10 outs on the bases this season, tied for the second-most in the majors, per Baseball-Reference.

Future with the Marlins

De La Cruz was miscast as an everyday player. While the Marlins have several other higher priorities to address this offseason, they should be looking for corner outfield help. They can't be relying on him to take 600-plus plate appearances again in 2024.

With all that being said, De La Cruz shouldn't be taken for granted. Pencil him in for an Opening Day roster spot if he's still in Miami on the other side of this offseason.

 

 

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[Guest OneRegend]

I had DLC as the first home-grown Marlin post-2017 to have the potential to hit 25 HRs heading into this year. He didn't even clear 20.

 

The frustrating part with DLC is how wildly inconsistent he is. He would just go on blazing hot streaks, and then follow up those hot streaks with very long homer-less droughts. He'd be an easy 30-HR guy if he took his production in May or in July and extrapolated it for the entire season. Which makes it even more frustrating that he had the season he had this year. He has the potential, but just can't seem to realize it.

 

That's not even taking into account his numerous TOOTBLANs which have sadly become the post-2017 Marlins identity lately, nor his average corner outfield defense suddenly falling to ****.

 

I'm having a hard time believing that this season is his ceiling, because he has the tools to be way better than this, and he can use them successfully, but man it is frustrating to watch when the player can't put it together.

[Ely Sussman]

Totally agree. Capable of being a lot better, but not sure if he'll ever reach his potential. The first thing I was drawn to with him in 2021 was the defense. Can't understand how he became such a liability there.

[Guest OneRegend]

DLC's defense was quite good in 2021. Maybe not GG-like, but I expected at least league-average defense in the corners. It's strange how he went from that to one of the worst fielders in 2023.

 

To me, I see 2023 as a setback. He is so much better than this in every conceivable way.