Cincinnati Reds Midseason Top 50 Prospects

The following is my mid-summer rankings of prospects across the Reds’ minor league system. I’ve based these rankings on a combination of various scouting reports, stats, video, and previous rankings. Having gone through each of these prospects, I believe Reds fans can and should feel some optimism about the future. A few thoughts on several notable prospects before we dig in: 

  • Nick Senzel, while out for the year with a torn ligament in his thumb, stays atop the rankings. Hard to have him anywhere but 1st when he’s consistently hit .300 or higher plus a pretty decent walk rate since 2016 with the Dayton Dragons (A).
  • Hunter Greene – I saw him pitch recently at the Futures Game; all I could think was “Is this this next Aroldis Chapman?” Greene throws 100 to 103 consistently, seemingly with ease, as his command/control was better than you would expect from hard-throwing pitchers. My feeling at this point is that he has real potential to be a 2 or 3 starter, if he can continue developing his slider, or add some movement to his fastball. At worst, I see him being closer material, easily.
  • Jimmy Herget – not quite a true side-arm reliever but close enough to it; his ability to change speeds and arm slot angles makes him a formidable reliever for right-handed hitters, particularly with a deceptive change-up, but also makes him vulnerable to lefties. I think his ceiling his capped by a platoon split issue but his delivery and pitches are good enough to be a middle-innings reliever for the big league squad at some point.
  • Jonathan India – this young man is going to be fun to watch! In 226 at-bats in his last stint with Florida University, India racked up 21 home runs and 15 stolen bases, icing on the cake of a .350/.497/.717 slash line. Granted, NCAA ball isn’t exactly pro ball but even in his limited time so far at A ball, he’s hitting and getting on base at a nice clip (.261/.443/.543). Most notably, he seems to have a patient approach at the plate, as evidenced by walk rates of close to 10% during is first two years at Florida, then 20% in A-ball. As of July 26 was promoted to Billings (Rookie ball).
  • Ibandel Isabel – the dude can crush baseballs! 28 home runs in 2017 with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Dodgers A+) and 22 this year with the Daytona Tortugas (Reds A+). If only he could make better contact generally, though. His strikeout rate throughout the minors has ranged from the 20s to as high as the low 40s at one point. If he can learn to not swing so freely, he’d be a real tater-masher at Great American Ballpark.  

If you have any thoughts or questions about this ranking, or any of my posts here, feel free to shoot me an email at reds_prospects1500@outlook.com and you can follow me on Twitter at Reds_Prospects. For your reference, Doc Riddle’s preseason Reds Top 50 Prospects can be found here

Prospects1500 Tiers:
Tier 1: Players with high expectations of both making the majors and playing at an All-Star level for a number of years
Tier 2: Players with an above average expectation of making the majors and being a solid contributor
Tier 3: Players with an average expectation of making the majors and being a solid contributor
Tier 4: Players who have the potential of making the majors, or have high likelihood of making the majors but providing minimal impact (e.g. middle reliever, low-ceiling UT guys)
Tier 5: Players who are worth keeping an eye on, but likely to never make a team’s 40-man roster

Tier 1:

1. Nick Senzel – 23 (.310/.378/.509, 8 SB, 6 HR, 9.8% BB) 

2. Taylor Trammell – 20 (.289/.386/.419, 18 SB, 7 HR, 12.7% BB) 

3. Hunter Greene – 18 (11.53 K/9, 2.98 BB/9, 0.81 HR/9, 4.61 ERA, 3.44 FIP) 

4. Tony Santillan – 21 (9.00 K/9, 1.00 BB/9, 0.50 HR/9, 1.50 ERA, 2.50 FIP) 

5. Jonathan India – 21 (.350/.497/.717, 15 SB, 21 HR, 20% BB) 2018 Florida U. stats 


Tier 2:
 

6. Shed Long – 22 (.260/.354/.429, 13 SB, 10 HR, 11% BB) 

7. Jeter Downs – 19 (.258/.344/.413, 26 SB, 10 HR, 9.7% BB) 

8. Tyler Stephenson – 21 (.278/.356/.445, 1 SB, 10 HR, 10.2% BB) 

9. Vladimir Gutierrez – 22 (8.77 K/9, 2.24 BB/9, 1.12 HR/9, 4.13 ERA, 4.26 FIP) 

10. Michael Beltre – 23 (.288/.403/.365, 7 SB, 0 HR, 16% BB) 

11. Jimmy Herget – 24 (10.34 K/9, 3.80 BB/9, 0.84 HR/9, 2.95 ERA, 3.72 FIP) 

12. Jose Siri – 23 (.235/.294/.541, 4 SB, 7 HR, 8.3% BB)  

13. Ibandel Isabel – 23 (.248/.330/.541, 1 SB, 22 HR, 9.2% BB) 


Tier 3:
 

14. Andy Sugilio – 21 (.281/.311/.365, 6 SB, 3 HR, 3.8% BB/9)) 

15. Keury Mella – 24 (9.21 K/9, 3.28 BB/9, 0.85 HR/9, 3.07 ERA, 3.96 FIP) 

16. Lyon Richardson – 18 (8.74 K/9, 5.56 BB/9, 0.79 HR/9, 5.56 ERA) 

17. TJ Friedl – 22 (.289/.395/.371, 7 SB, 0 HR, 13.2% BB) 

18. Mariel Bautista – 20 (.259/.323/.400, 5 SB, 1 HR, 8.2% BB) 

19. Jose Lopez – 24 (7.13 K/9, 2.81 BB/9, 1.51 HR/9, 4.72 ERA, 5.02 FIP) 

20. Ryan Hendrix – 23 (13.50 K/9, 4.66 BB/9, 0.23 HR/9, 1.16 ERA, 2.41 FIP) 


Tier 4:
  

21. Brantley Bell – 23 (.261/.313/.392, 8 SB, 5 HR, 5.8% BB) 

22. Connor Bennet – 21 (14.19 K/9, 5.26 BB/9, 0.92 HR/9, 3.20 ERA, 4.58 FIP), 

23. Packy Naughton – 22 (7.47 K/9, 1.97 BB/9, 0.74 HR/9, 4.19 ERA, 3.73 FIP) 

24. Scott Moss – 23 (7.77 K/9, 2.66 BB/9, 1.23 HR/9, 3.99 ERA, 4.52 FIP) 

25. Zack Weiss – 26 (1.89 K/9, 3.54 BB/9, 0.64 HR/9, 2.89 ERA, 2.68 FIP) 

26. Alejo Lopez – 22 (.263/.366/.347, 2 SB, 0 HR, 9.3% BB)

27. Josiah Gray – 20 (9.3 K/9, 2.3 BB/9, 0 HR/9, 2.90 ERA, 2.65 FIP)

28. Hendrik Clementina – 21 (.271/.343/.514, 0 SB, 12 HR, 9.4% BB) 

29. Miguel Hernandez – 19 (.303/.354/.461, 0 SB, 1 HR, 7.2% BB) 

30. Randy Ventura – 21 (.312/.364/.358, 2 SB, 0 HR, 7.6% BB) 

31. Gabriel Guerrero – 24 (.285/.324/.447, 1 SB, 8 HR, 5.9% BB)  

32. Aristides Aquino – 24 (.252/.307/.430, 4 SB, 11 HR, 6.8% BB) 

33. Mike Siani – 19 (.333/.429/.521, 1 SB, 2 HR, 14.29% BB) 

34. Jose Israel Garcia – 20 (.228/.265/.294, 6 SB, 1 HR, 4.76% BB) 

35. Tanner Rainey – 25 (12.38 K/9, 6.19 BB/9, .28 HR/9, 1.41 ERA, 3.14 FIP) 

36. Miles Gordon – 20 (.211/.290/.324, 17 SB, 2 HR, 9.9% BB) 

37. Blake Trahan – 24 (.266/.329/.279, 3 SB, 1 HR, 12% BB) 


Tier 5
 

38. Debby Santana – 17 (.231/.239/.360, 0 SB, 3 HR, 2.3% BB) 

39. Jesus Reyes – 17 (7.67 K/9, 3.69 BB/9, 0.59 HR/9, 4.13 ERA, 4.12 FIP) 

40. Josh VanMeter – 23 (.221/.271/.368, 2 SB, 4 HR, 6.4% BB) 

41. Jesse Adams – 24 (6.28 K/9, 2.51 BB/9, 0 HR/9, 4.40 ERA, 3.31 FIP) 

42. Aaron Fosass – 25 (5.45 K/9, 3.72 BB/9, 0.50 HR/9, 3.47 ERA, 4.44 FIP) 

43. Alex Blandino – 25 (.234/.324/.289, 0 SB, 1 HR, 8.8% BB) 

44. Gavin LaValley – 23 (.204/.290/.327, 2 SB, 8 HR, 10.5%) 

45. Chris Okey – 23 (.170/.235/.261, 1 SB, 2 HR, 6.6% BB) 

46. Nick Longhi – 22 (.250/.318/.335, 0 SB, 2 HR, 6.6% BB) 

47. Rookie Davis – 25 (7.50 K/9, 5.25 BB/9, 2.63 HR/9, 8.63 ERA, 7.16 FIP) 2017 stats 

48. Alfredo Rodriguez – 24 (.253/.294/.294, 11 SB, 2 HR, 4.8% BB) 2017 stats 

49. Mitch Nay – 24 (.280/.392./.500, 1 SB, 5 HR, 12.4%) 

50. Bruce Yari – 23 (.278/.383/.365, 0 SB, 4 HR, 13.3% BB) 

 

Featured image of Taylor Trammell – via Cincinnati Reds on Twitter

Rudie Verougstraete is the Cincinnati Reds correspondent at Prospects1500. He lives in Richmond, Virginia with his wife Shelly who is the Washington Nationals correspondent. He has been an avid baseball fan since 2015, participates in multiple fantasy baseball leagues, and attends Richmond Flying Squirrels (Giants AA affiliate) and Washington Nationals games whenever he can! His favorite baseball function is First Pitch Arizona, a fantasy baseball conference hosted by Baseball HQ every year just outside Phoenix.




2 Comments

    • Thanks for pointing this out! Article has been updated. Rudie bumped Weiss and Lopez up a spot and added Josiah Gray at #27.

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  1. Cincinnati Reds 2019 Top 50 Prospects | Prospects1500
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