Five Cincinnati Reds prospects named among MLB world class players whom…
The robust farm system continues to carry its growing reputation!
Matt McLain, Spencer Steer, and Elly De La Cruz each received at least one vote for the National League’s Rookie of the Year Award after the 2023 season, an indication that the youth movement within the Cincinnati Reds system was in full, healthy swing. And while each graduated from the team’s prospect list by logging enough plate appearances at the big league level to exhaust their status as ‘prospects,’ rest assured the Reds prospect cache still remains among the most solid in all of baseball.
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MLB Pipeline took notice. Over the weekend, they released their updated Top 100 overall prospect list, and the Cincinnati Reds placed 5 of their talented farmhands on the list. Noelvi Marte headlines the group (#21), flanked by 2023 1st rounder Rhett Lowder (#34), Edwin Arroyo (#67), Connor Phillips (#70), and Chase Petty (#98).
The handful of Reds prospects on the list meant the club had the third most of any team, behind only the Chicago Cubs (7) and Baltimore Orioles (6).
The young depth that Nick Krall and the rest of the Cincinnati front office has built up is enviable, and a testament to their patience. Hopefully, it will begin to show up in the form of wins at the big league level in short order, since that’s really what this game of baseball is all about, right?
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With Light Tower Power the likes of which we have not seen in the Cincinnati Reds system in some time, Rece Hinds brings at least one tool to the table that may well be the best on the entire farm. As the rest of his game continues to round into form – his defensive position, his contact rate, his health, etc. – he seems poised for a 2024 season that will more mimic how he finished 2023 than how he started it.
It’s that upside paired with his gradual rise to the AAA level that has him firmly in the mix for some big league PA in 2024, too – and that’s surely why he was the next player voted on to this year’s Community Prospect Rankings. He’s the owner of spot #13, with voting for spot #14 ramping up below.
We’ve seemingly been writing about Richardson forever, the former 2nd round pick having long carried a reputation as a flamethrower who’ll eventually impact the Reds. Tommy John surgery shelved him for all of 2022 after he was roughed up in a 2021 season in which he experienced diminished velocity, and he fell down the top prospect lists as he became something of an afterthought.
