Sparked by Elly De La Cruz, the Cincinnati Reds are winning and having plenty of fun doing it

WASHINGTON — Elly De La Cruz walked through the clubhouse wearing a shirt with his face and nickname, “La Cocoa,” on it. Sitting at his locker facing the rest of the room, Joey Votto joked to a nearby coach that he should let the kids play.

The kids are playing, all right, and the Cincinnati Reds are winning as a result.

Sparked by De La Cruz, the rookie sensation whose major league debut last month coincided with Cincinnati’s season turning around, the Reds are rolling toward the All-Star break playing some of the best baseball in quite some time for the storied franchise. They’re atop the NL Central and on pace to make the playoffs for just the second time in a decade, with a team full of young players who are having plenty of fun along the way.

“We have very good vibes going on,” De La Cruz said through an interpreter. “It feels like everyone’s united and everyone’s just trying to help each other out.”

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It’s working. The Reds are 22-6 since De La Cruz joined them on June 6.

The 6-foot-5, 200-pound dreadlocked 21-year-old from the Dominican Republic has brought smiles in the dugout and production on the field. Through his first 27 games, he is batting .325 and has driven in 15 runs, launched four home runs, stolen 12 bases and became Cincinnati’s first player to hit for the cycle since 1989.

“Elly’s playing great since he’s been here, and that’s helped us a lot,” said David Bell, now in his fourth season as Reds manager. “We’ve definitely played well since Elly’s been here.”

It also helps that Votto, the 2010 NL MVP and longtime face of the franchise, returned on June 19 after missing the previous 10 months while recovering from surgery to repair his left biceps and rotator cuff. Now 39, Votto is feeling the best he has in well over a year.

He has a tough time containing his joy.

“I’ve got a dirty little secret: I actually can’t stand baseball, so every day is a nightmare for me,” Votto deadpanned earlier this week after hitting a home run to snap a 0-for-21 slump in yet another win.

“I’ve been having a great time. Guys are young, energized, motivated. Winning, of course, but it has a lot to do with the personalities in the clubhouse. These guys are silly and talented and getting better.”

Votto, who turns 40 in September, is by far Cincinnati’s oldest player. De La Cruz is the youngest — one of 21 players on the 26-man roster who hadn’t been born yet the last time the organization won the World Series in 1990.

Shortstop Matt McLain is 23, first-time All-Star closer Alexis Díaz and second baseman Jonathan India are 26 and center fielder TJ Friedl is 27. The mix has worked well.

“We’re just having fun together, playing the game we love, playing with heart, playing with passion — that’s our mentality,” India said earlier this week. “We just care about winning. We have one goal in mind: to make it to the end and win the ring.”

The Reds haven’t won a playoff series since 1995. Getting to and through October is now their goal.

“It’s really been a fun time so far,” Votto said. “And I think the good times are actually ahead of us.”

SATURDAY’S GAME

Reds at Brewers, 4:10 p.m., Bally Sports Ohio, FS1, 700, 1410