[4] De La Cruz made his professional debut in 2019 with the Dominican Summer League Reds at 17 years of age, hitting .285/.351/.382 with one home run and three steals (while being caught six times) in 43 games, playing primarily shortstop.

[7] In 2021, De La Cruz played for the rookie–level Arizona Complex League Reds and Single–A Daytona Tortugas (with whom his seven triples were second in the Low-A Southeast).

[15] In 38 games for Louisville, De La Cruz hit .298/.398/.633 with 12 home runs, 36 RBIs, and 11 stolen bases (while being caught six times), playing primarily shortstop.

[6] On June 6, 2023, De La Cruz was promoted to the major leagues for the first time following an injury to Nick Senzel; De La Cruz was the fifth-youngest NL ballplayer at 21 years of age, one of the tallest shortstops in MLB history at 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m), and one of the fastest ballplayers in baseball.

[22] On July 8, De La Cruz became the first Reds player since Greasy Neale in 1919 to steal second, third, and home in the same inning.

[26] Statcast tracked De La Cruz and Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals as the fastest players in Major League Baseball in terms of sprint speed in 2023: they averaged 30.5 feet per second (558 m/min).

[27] Playing against the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 16, 2024, De La Cruz became the first MLB player since Ichiro Suzuki in 2012 to record four hits and four stolen bases in a single game.

[29] On July 7, 2024, De La Cruz was named as a reserve player in the 2024 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.