The Reds last had a winning season in 2013, when they were one of three National League Central teams to make the playoffs. The decline that followed led to a rebuilding effort, which is still very much in progress as evidenced by 90-loss seasons in four of the last five years.
There have been signs of life from the farm system over the last few years, with the Reds hitting the top 10 system rankings in four of the last six rankings put out by MLB Pipeline. The struggles have led to picks at the top of the Draft the last several years and the three players from the organization in the Top 100 are the three first-round picks from the last three years. No. 1 Hunter Greene was the No. 2 overall pick in 2017, Nick Lodolo, the No. 2 prospect, was taken seventh overall last June, and No. 3 Jonathan India was the fifth pick in 2018. The No. 2 selection in 2016 was Nick Senzel, who ascended to the big leagues in 2019.
The Reds will need more Senzels to reach Cincinnati and have an impact in order to help the Reds get back to the top of the NL Central. Lodolo, taken most recently, might actually get there first, but there are others not far behind.
TOP 5 PROSPECTS
- Hunter Greene, RHP (No. 49 on Top 100)
- Nick Lodolo, LHP (No. 56)
- Jonathan India, 3B (No. 93)
- Antonio Santillan, RHP
- Tyler Callihan, 2B/3B
Complete Top 30 list ?
HITTING & PITCHING PROSPECTS OF THE YEAR
Brian O'Grady, OF: O'Grady's 2019 performance earned him an early-August Major League debut. The 27-year-old played 112 games for Triple-A Louisville, slugging .550 with a .280 batting average. He hit 28 homers and drove in 77 runs, tallying 20 stolen bases, too.
Packy Naughton, LHP: Naughton made 28 starts in 2019, nine in Class A Advanced and 19 in Double-A. Overall, he had a 3.32 ERA and walked just 2.0 per nine in 157 innings. More ?
STOCK UP/DOWN
Tyler Stephenson, C (No. 7): The Reds always thought it was in there, that¡¯s why they took the high school catcher with the No. 11 overall pick in 2015. Injuries slowed him tremendously, and he showed some signs of improvement in 2018, but he really took a step forward with a move to Double-A in 2019, then upped his stock even more with a strong Arizona Fall League showing.
Vladimir Gutierrez, RHP (No. 11): Gutierrez had taken a nice step forward in 2018 and there were some expectations that he would impact the big league rotation in 2019. Instead, he finished with a 6.04 ERA in the Triple-A International League, where batters hit .266 against him while his strikeout rate went down and his walk rate went up.
NEW ADDITIONS
Draft: Nick Lodolo, LHP, 1st round (No. 2 on Reds Top 30); Tyler Callihan, 2B/3B, 3rd round (No. 5); Rece Hinds, 3B, 2nd round (No. 6); Ivan Johnson, SS/2B, 4th round (No. 14); Yan Contreras, SS, 12th round (No. 28); Graham Ashcraft, RHP, 6th round; Quin Cotton, OF, 8th round. Complete Draft list ?
International: Brailyn Minier, SS; Michel Triana, 3B
Trade: Jameson Hannah, OF (No. 10)
Hannah came from the A¡¯s courtesy of the Tanner Roark trade at the deadline. Lodolo was the Reds¡¯ fourth straight pick in the top 10 of the Draft (Nick Senzel, Hunter Greene, Jonathan India) and should be able to progress relatively quickly through the system, while the high-end high school bats in Callihan and Hinds might take longer. Minier and Triania are much further away, but the Reds international scouting department thought highly enough of them to give them each seven figures to sign, two of 10 international prospects who got six figures or more to join the organization.
2020 IMPACT PROSPECT
Nick Lodolo, LHP: With three above-average pitches and at least above-average control, Lodolo is the kind of advanced college arm who could move very quickly through the system. Some might see him as a Mike Leake type and while he¡¯s unlikely to follow the same exact path in terms of going straight to the big leagues (Leake actually didn¡¯t pitch a game in the Minors before making his pro and Major League debut), it¡¯d be easy to see the lefty starting the year in Double-A and hitting the Reds rotation by midseason.
Best tools
Hit: Jonathan India
Power: Ibandel Isabel
Run: Andy Suglio
Arm: Jose Garcia
Field: Mike Siani
Best athlete: Jose Siri
Fastball: Hunter Greene
Curveball: Vladimir Gutierrez
Slider: Ryan Hendrix
Changeup: Reiver SanMartin
Control: Nick Lodolo
How they were built
Draft: 20
International: 7
Trade: 2
Non-drafted free agent: 1
The current top three on the Top 30 are the Reds¡¯ first-round picks the last three years in Greene (2017), Lodolo (2019) and India (2018). Callihan and Hinds are two more 2019 draftees who made the top 10 and eight of those 10 are original Reds Draft selections. Cincinnati has been very aggressive on the international market and while the yield from those efforts has been uneven, Jose Garcia (No. 9) is coming off a solid second year of pro ball and Vladimir Gutierrez comes in at No. 11, while No. 18 Alfredo Rodriguez had a bounce-back 2019 campaign.
Top 30 breakdown by position
C: 1
2B: 1
3B: 2
SS: 4
OF: 10
RHP: 9
LHP: 3
While the Reds¡¯ top two prospects are pitchers, the top of the list is definitely offensive-minded. Seven of the top 10 are position players, with four infielders, two outfielders and a catcher in that upper third of the list.