Under is an evaluation of the prospects within the farm system of the Cincinnati Reds. Scouting experiences had been compiled with info offered by business sources in addition to my very own observations. That is the fifth yr we’re delineating between two anticipated reduction roles, the abbreviations for which you’ll see within the “place” column under: MIRP for multi-inning reduction pitchers, and SIRP for single-inning reduction pitchers. The ETAs listed typically correspond to the yr a participant needs to be added to the 40-man roster to keep away from being made eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Handbook changes are made the place they appear acceptable, however we use that as a rule of thumb.
A fast overview of what FV (Future Worth) means may be discovered right here. A a lot deeper overview may be discovered right here.
The entire ranked prospects under additionally seem on The Board, a useful resource the location provides that includes sortable scouting info for each group. It has extra particulars (and up to date TrackMan information from varied sources) than this text and integrates each crew’s listing so readers can evaluate prospects throughout farm methods. It may be discovered right here.
Different Prospects of Observe
Grouped by sort and listed so as of desire inside every class.
A Few Too Many Okay’s
Naibel Mariano, SS
Sammy Stafura, SS
Carlos Sanchez, 3B
Ethan O’Donnell, OF
Ricky Cabrera, 3B
Mariano signed for $1.65 million final January after which had a contact charge down close to 60% in his first DSL season. He’s a very good defender and really projectable at a lanky 6-foot-3. He must be monitored for enchancment, nevertheless it isn’t as if a crew is tripping over itself to commerce for a man who hit .188 within the DSL. Stafura has a really lengthy swing and ran a sub-70% contact charge final yr, and he’s off to a fair worse begin at Daytona this season. His shortstop protection is inconsistent, however he’s athletic sufficient to play there. Sanchez, 20, is a well-built lefty-hitting third baseman whose contact efficiency has develop into extra of an issue as he’s reached full season ball. O’Donnell is a hard-swinging lefty outfielder out of Virginia who hit 10 bombs and stole 31 bases in 2024. He’s a nook man with a ton of in-zone swing-and-miss. Cabrera signed for $2.7 million again in 2022. He’s a free swinger and below-average defender who has had some underlying crimson flags associated to his chase and get in touch with, even again in rookie ball when his floor line was nice.
(Lars Voice) “Far Away”
Arij Fransen, RHP
Dominic Scheffler, LHP
Fransen is a 23-year-old Dutch righty with an uphill 92-94 mph fastball and a median slider that he can land for strikes, however not for chase. He’s pitching in reduction at Double-A. Scheffler, 20, is a 6-foot-4 Swiss lefty who signed for 165,660 Swiss Francs in 2023. If he makes it to the bigs, he’ll be the primary Swiss-born spieler since Otto Hess, who pitched for Cleveland and Boston within the early 1900s. There’s a unbelievable 30-minute German-language documentary about Scheffler’s first yr in professional ball on YouTube (readers can monkey with the closed captions in order that they’re in English). The highlights: Scheffler performed beginner ball in Zurich and Regensburg, and for a time was an alternate pupil in Japan. He was signed understanding he’d want TJ, which he returned from in 2024. He likes MarioKart, however possibly not the west aspect of the Phoenix metro. He broke 2025 camp with Low-A Daytona and is battling walks for the second straight yr, however he’s bought a shot to put on a giant league uniform as a lefty relieever. He’ll contact 94, his fastball has some pure lower at occasions, and he’ll flash a pleasant slider.
Spot Starter Sorts
Tristan Smith, LHP
Jose Montero, RHP
Brian Edgington, RHP
Nestor Lorant, RHP
David Lorduy, RHP
Smith was final yr’s fifth rounder out of Clemson, a three-pitch lefty who sits 93 and will find yourself with three common pitches. Montero is a 21-year-old Venezuelan righty who instructions a 90-93 mph two-seamer, a median slider, and a power-sinking changeup. He’s presently at Dayton. Edgington, 26, is coming off a 2024 by which he posted a 1.21 WHIP in 113.1 innings mixed throughout each A-ball ranges. The 2023 UDFA out of Virginia has a very good changeup and throws strikes with a 90-92 mph heater. Lorant is a 22-year-old Venezuelan righty who has had A-ball success whereas sitting 89 and dealing with a very good changeup. Lorduy is a 21-year-old pitchability righty from Colombia who reached full-season ball late final yr and has pitched properly in a handful of Low-A outings. He instructions a median slider and changeup to both aspect of the plate and may elevate a 91-92 mph fastball. A roughly common athlete with under common projection, he has depth starter ceiling.
Fringe Relievers
Lenny Torres Jr., RHP
Donovan Benoit, RHP
Simon Miller, RHP
Easton Sikorski, RHP
A former extremely touted Guardians prospect, Torres signed with Cincinnati on a minor league deal this offseason. He’s once more sitting 96-98 mph with out nice motion in a reduction function at Triple-A Louisville. Benoit is a limber, low-slot righty reliever at Chattanooga. He has unusual arm power for a sidearmer and can contact 97, however his really feel for location is simply too crude to incorporate him on the principle part of the listing. His slider is hard on righties due to his slot, and if his management progresses late (he’s almost 27), he’ll be a middle-inning possibility. Miller is a 24-year-old cutter-heavy reliever who Okay’d a bit of greater than a batter per inning in his first full professional season. He’s peaking round 96 at Chattanooga, whereas sitting 93-94. Sikorski, 25, was the Reds’ 2022 seventeenth rounder out of Western Michigan. He’s a misleading reduction righty sitting 91 with plus experience, and he has two common secondaries that diverge in reverse instructions. He’s having early-season success at Dayton and may have a fast hook to Chattanooga given his age.
Final 12 months’s DSL Names to Know
Yeycol Soriano, OF
Samuel Perez, RHP
Angelo Mora, C
Yael Romero, 1B
Enmanuel Talavera, RHP
Rafhlmil Torres, SS
Anielson Buten, 2B/LF
Soriano is a projectable lefty-hitting middle fielder who has had two good DSL seasons from a bat-to-ball standpoint, and can come to the ACL this summer season. He’s a sophisticated middle subject defender and might be a bit of taller than his listed 6-feet. Perez is a 20-year-old Panamanian righty who made his debut within the 2024 DSL. He has a stunning supply, a precocious changeup and curveball, and his upper-80s fastball has driving life. He’s solely 6-foot-1 or so, and is projectable extra due to his athleticism and mechanics than his dimension. He’s a part of the Reds’ prolonged spring coaching group in Arizona. Mora is a bodily 19-year-old Venezuelan catcher who posted an .838 OPS within the 2024 DSL. He’s brief to the ball and has a mature all-fields strategy. Romero is a bodily lefty-hitting first baseman with a muscular physique and compact swing. He additionally walked greater than 20% of the time in every of his two DSL seasons. Talavera is a 19-year-old Venezuelan righty with plus projection and a fantastic breaking ball. He was sitting simply 88-89 mph final yr, however he nonetheless had success within the DSL in each a bat-missing and strike-throwing sense. Torres is a slick-fielding switch-hitter who posted a 9% Okay% within the DSL final yr however nonetheless had a below-average line as a result of he’s so missing in energy. He’s a breakout candidate if he can add power. Buten is an undersized Haitian 2B/OF with above-average bat velocity and below-average bat management. He had a robust second DSL season in 2024.
System Overview
This method is roughly common, possibly a shade above due to the five-pack of High 100 skills on the very high. It has roughly common total depth, with a reasonably typical cluster of affect function gamers (the 40+ FV tier and above). There are many soon-to-be-big-league-ready pitchers right here, a lot of whom challenge to have appreciable affect. This pitching depth (which is already being examined by accidents and Alexis Díaz’s swoon) is a giant motive why I picked the Reds to win the NL Central this yr. Velocity reigns supreme in Cincinnati, with 14 fastballs topping out at 98 mph or above whenever you embrace Lenny Torres Jr. Hunter Greene is the poster boy for giant, sustainable velo, not simply on this org however most likely for the league as an entire. He’s seemingly delivering on each molecule of hype generated round him since he was in highschool, and he’s about to have a bunch mates.
The hitting aspect of the Reds system will not be as robust. As a lot as I like Alfredo Duno, he’s dangerous, and so is principally each different hitting prospect on this listing for one motive or one other. I don’t assume there’s a single prospect with a future plus hit software on this complete system. So most of the Reds’ place participant prospects have “inside out” kinds of contact, the place they battle to tug fastballs and may actually solely hit them the opposite manner. Hitters like this make me nervous and so they’re throughout this listing. Even Héctor Rodríguez, who can activate his fair proportion of pitches, is dangerous as a result of he’s a nook man who has traditionally been very impatient on the dish. That group within the 45 and 40+ FV tier all challenge to play significant part-time roles, however I’d be shocked if any of them grew to become the type of build-around participant who the org seeks to signal to a long-term extension. The Reds have a few guys within the massive leagues who appear to be that sort of participant (Elly De La Cruz, and possibly Noelvi Marte), however a lot of the affect within the system rests with the pitching.
The Reds haven’t made a ton of sellers trades just lately, so it’s a bit of robust to gauge their professional scouting tastes, however have a look at the hit charge on among the offers they’ve made. Each prospects from the Mets within the Tyler Naquin commerce are nonetheless related, and everybody from the Luis Castillo swap aside from Levi Stoudt (who reached the large leagues) remains to be round. Have they got the items to make a purchaser’s deal this summer season? If I’m on the opposite finish of the telephone and the Reds wish to commerce for my star outfielder, I’m asking for Duno and making an attempt to mitigate the danger by getting a few high-floored arms, too.
Internationally, the Reds are typically prepared to stay their necks out to signal $3 million-ish gamers, and but they nonetheless have sufficient DSL gamers to fill two rosters. It is because they go away a lot of their gamers down there for 2 years, which is changing into extra widespread. They haven’t had monumental success with their top-of-the-market guys, however the sheer dimension of their operation within the D.R. creates many alternatives for decrease bonus gamers to emerge.
Domestically, the Reds draft plenty of junior school gamers (there are six within the system proper now, a few of whom had been traded for) and incessantly siphon from the Southeast, particularly Florida and Georgia. Ten gamers on the listing went to highschool in a type of two states. The Reds decide ninth on this yr’s draft and may add somebody who slots into the system on both aspect of Adam Serwinowski.