The Cincinnati Reds have seized unfamiliar momentum in the NL Central. The Reds are 32-35 and just 3.5 games out of first place in the division.
After a bit of a sluggish start, Cincinnati has sprung back to life with the addition of some of their top prospects. Since shortstop Matt McLain’s debut on May 15, the Reds are 14-13. Since left-handed pitcher Andrew Abbott’s debut on June 5, the Reds are 6-2. Rookie phenom Elly de la Cruz debuted the following day, which the Reds won on a walkoff double by Matt McLain.
So, with all of these promotions, Cincinnati’s farm system must have a dearth of blue-chip talent… right?
Frankly, that could not be much further form the truth. Let’s take a look at some of the Reds top prospects remaining at the various levels of the minor leagues.
Perhaps next in line to be promoted to Cincinnati is a hard-hitting first baseman. One who has a keen eye for the strike zone and has power to all fields. No, not Joey Votto, although Votto is currently completing a rehab assignment in Louisville and should be back in Cincinnati before the end of June.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand is the biggest name to know in the Reds farm system. Encarnacion-Strand currently sports a slash line of .362/.427/.734 with 17 home runs, 46 runs batted in and 14 other extra-base hits. He has also revamped his approach this season to be more patient at the plate without sacrificing his power.
A pitcher to keep an eye on in AAA is Levi Stoudt. Stoudt was one of the players acquired for Luis Castillo from the Seattle Mariners at the trade deadline last season. In 2023, Stoudt has thrown just over 32 innings and has a 4.45 ERA and 23 walks to just 21 strikeouts. While Stoudt has yet to put it all together in 2023, he has the talent to become a swingman at the back of the rotation one day.
The centerpiece of the Luis Castillo trade, Noelvi Marte, has been on an absolute tear to being his 2023 season. Marte is hitting .293 with eight home runs, 25 runs batted in and 10 stolen bases in 12 attempts. He also is walking at a sustainable 9.9% rate with a very manageable 16.9% strikeout rate. Marte and the aforementioned Encarnacion-Strand are the future at the corner infield spots. With Elly de la Cruz and Matt McLain up the middle at shortstop and second base, respectively, the Reds have a surplus of blue-chip infielders who could all be middle-of-the-order bats at some point in the 2024 season.
A pitcher to keep an eye on in Chattanooga is Connor Phillips. Phillips has some of the best stuff in the entire organization regardless of level. Another former Seattle Mariner, acquired via the Jesse Winker trade, Phillips has the upside of a frontline MLB starter. In 58 innings pitched, Phillips has struck out 101 batters while walking just 23.
Phillips should be off to AAA shortly and could be another candidate to make the 2024 roster out of spring training. Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Andrew Abbott, Graham Ashcraft and Connor Phillips is an extraordinarily young and talented rotation that would stack up with any other in baseball.
There are several players who are performing very well in some of the lower levels of the minor leagues. These players have plenty of promise, but are still young and likely a couple seasons away from debuting in the major leagues.
Yet another former Seattle Mariner, shortstop Edwin Arroyo is a name to keep an eye on. Arroyo was once viewed as a defense-first prospect, but has shown an improved hit tool in High-A Dayton. He has seven home runs already this season.
2022 first round pick Cam Collier has continued to flash his advanced hitting approach for such a young player. Collier, 18, is still a little while away from Cincinnati, but his potential is through the roof. Collier took a similar route as Bryce Harper through high school to the draft with one year at a junior college in between.
The Reds have promoted three massive talents from the minor-leagues to Cincinnati already this season. At least one more big fish should be arriving soon (Encarnacion-Strand) and more position player talent is working its way through the system as well.
Cincinnati could look to trade some of this surplus of infield talent for young, controllable starting pitching depth as that has been a weakness for the 2023 team. Once Lodolo gets healthy and Ashcraft, hopefully, gets back to his normal self, this team could make some serious noise in a weak division. Either way, it will be fun to watch!
Stay tuned for more breaking MLB content, including trade deadline information, power rankings and more news from every team.
Featured image courtesy of Reds.com
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