Elly De La Cruz vs Michael Lorenzen

The Almanac's Take

De La Cruz gets the left-side of his switch-hitting advantage here against a right-hander, and Lorenzen's season line gives that edge real weight — a 6.40 ERA, 1.77 WHIP, and 14 home runs allowed over 97 innings is a genuinely rough profile. De La Cruz is hitting .279 with a .852 OPS and 16 home runs through 80 games, and his 27.7% strikeout rate is the main thing keeping this from being a cleaner read against a pitcher running a 6.8 K/9. The head-to-head is just 14 plate appearances — three hits, four strikeouts — so treat it as texture, not signal; the changeup-heavy pitch mix (31.4%) is worth knowing given De La Cruz's swing-and-miss tendencies.

Career head-to-head

AVG

.250

3-for-12

PA

14

HR

0

K

4

BB

2

Pitches seen

51

Avg exit velo

92.6 mph

Career meetings in the Statcast era (2015–present). Even a clear edge over a handful of plate appearances is a small sample — read it as color, not a projection.

Pitch mix to the batter

Plate-appearance log

• 2026-04-30Strikeout · Sinker 92.9 mph
• 2026-04-30Strikeout · Sinker 93.3 mph
• 2026-04-30Single · Sinker 94.2 mph · 74.7 mph EV
• 2025-05-26Field Out · 4-Seam Fastball 93.4 mph · 102.0 mph EV
• 2025-05-26Single · 4-Seam Fastball 93.2 mph · 96.1 mph EV
• 2025-05-26Walk · Changeup 84.9 mph
• 2025-03-15Single · 4-Seam Fastball 93.3 mph · 105.9 mph EV
• 2025-03-15Walk · Changeup 83.3 mph
• 2024-08-16Field Out · Changeup 84.4 mph · 85.8 mph EV
• 2024-08-16Double Play · Cutter 91.1 mph · 107.3 mph EV
• 2024-08-16Field Out · Cutter 91.9 mph · 79.0 mph EV
• 2024-04-27Field Out · 4-Seam Fastball 94.3 mph · 90.0 mph EV
• 2024-04-27Strikeout · Changeup 85.8 mph
• 2024-04-27Strikeout · Sinker 94.8 mph