Top prospect De La Cruz: An 'honor' to wear No. 44 at camp

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- The height disparity between the Reds' shortstop prospects was obvious as 6-foot-5 Elly De La Cruz and 5-foot-11 Matt McLain took grounders during early work with coach Freddie Benavides on Monday. But they were both equally smooth when scooping up choppers and short hops.

"I’m just getting comfortable, easing in, getting back into the saddle," De La Cruz said later via translator Jorge Merlos.

Monday was the first full-squad workout for Cincinnati as De La Cruz -- the organization's No. 1 prospect and No. 10 overall per MLB Pipeline -- navigated his first big league camp.

“It’s a pretty tough day especially after a couple of days of not doing much. We’re getting in there, getting set and it was full throttle the first day," the 21-year-old De La Cruz said.

De La Cruz was assigned No. 44, a number that once belonged to Reds great Eric Davis. Although a young player, De La Cruz understands that significance -- especially since he's worked with Davis, who is currently a special assistant for player performance with the club.

"That’s what they gave me," De La Cruz said of the number. "It’s an honor to wear that number. We’re going to give it all our best to live up to that number.”

More notes and observations from Monday:

• While throwing live batting practice, starting pitcher Graham Ashcraft had a rapid sequence of issues happen consecutively. First, he hit Jake Fraley and Tyler Stephenson with pitches, before he himself was hit on the right ankle by a TJ Friedl hard liner back to the mound.

"It was payback," Ashcraft joked.

All three players emerged OK, but Ashcraft's session was cut short as a precaution after he was struck.

"I could kind of feel the tightness and it kind of gave out just a little bit," Ashcraft said. "Hell, I get hit every year. Better to get hit now than in the season … I'm not limping. It's fine."

• All 66 players in Reds camp were present and accounted for on the team's first full-squad workout day. Manager David Bell addressed the team in a brief clubhouse meeting before the workout.

"We have a lot of work to accomplish, just the excitement of that," Bell said. "Everyone loves to win, but what we really love is the competing every day to get better. There's no shortcuts with that. A bit of a foundation was set midway through last year. A lot of those guys were back. We know we have to get better, we need to use Spring Training to do that. Another focus will be making sure we come together during Spring Training so that when we leave here, we're a team as much as we can be."

After the Reds ranked near the bottom of the Major Leagues in multiple defensive categories last season, sharpening defense is among the camp priorities.

"You cannot be afraid to fail in this game or you have no chance," Bell said about defensive effort. "I think it’s definitely about being smart and all that, but a lot of it is preparation. If you prepare properly, then you can trust yourself in the game and you trust yourself to make plays. That’s the focus. We have to always demonstrate this, but they know if all the work has been done, the preparation has been done and they try to make a play, they’re going to have our support on that because that’s how plays are made. That’s the way you have to play the game in this league."