Friday is upon us and that means that we are on the final part of the 2026 Cincinnati Reds Top 25 Prospects list. We’ve worked out way through five prospects per day this week and now you’ve got a full picture of how things look. If you were supporting the site on Patreon then you would have already been able to see the entire Top 25 list last week and had early access to this and plenty of other benefits throughout the year. Click here to see what all you can get for helping keep the site alive and kicking via support through Patreon.
These write ups are not full scouting reports. Those will be included with the Season Reviews, which will start next week – first working my way through the Top 25 prospects before then branching out into another group of 20-25 prospects that are outside of that top 25 through the remainder of the offseason.
*To be eligible for the list a player must have 2026 Rookie of the Year eligibility (Fewer than 130 at bats in the big leagues, fewer than 50 innings pitched, or less than 45 days on the active MLB roster)*
All ages listed are as of April 1st, 2026
1. Alfredo Duno | C | Age: 20
2025 Team: Daytona | Acquired: International FA, 2023 | Height: 6′ 2″ | Weight: 210 lbs | B/T: R/R
What to like: He can remain at catcher. And he can hit. That is a rare combination. But it’s not just that he can hit, it’s that he has the potential to hit a lot of home runs while also providing value in hitting for average and getting on base a lot, too.
What he needs to improve on: While he’s listed at 210 lbs, that number is out of date. He’s larger than that. In no way is he out of shape, but he is a very big guy and he will need to remain on top of his conditioning as he ages. Defensively he’s a catcher, but he could still improve on the finer aspects of the defensive side of things.
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2025 Stats
2. Sal Stewart | 1B/3B | Age: 22
2025 Team: Chattanooga/Louisville/Cincinnati | Acquired: 1st Round, 2022 Draft | Height: 6′ 1″ | Weight: 224 lbs | B/T: R/R
What to like: At the plate, Stewart can do a little bit of everything. He has a chance to hit for a high average, good power, he makes plenty of contact, he uses the entire field, and he understands the strikezone well. Stewart is also big league ready and he’s already played 20 games with Cincinnati (including the playoffs).
What he needs to work on: Defense. Stewart has spent much of his career at third base, but late in 2025 he moved over to first base as the club acquired Ke’Bryan Hayes to play third. The position is still new to Stewart and while he didn’t seem lost or anything over there, he’s still got limited experience there.
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2025 Stats
3. Rhett Lowder | RHP | Age: 24
2025 Teams: Did Not Play | Acquired: 1st Round, 2023 Draft | Height: 6′ 2″ | Weight: 200 lbs | B/T: R/R
What to like: When he’s healthy, he’s big league ready. Lowder throws a lot of strikes. He’s capable of mixing and matching his pitches well and he brings four offerings to the table that are all average or better.
What he needs to work on: While he was dominant in six big league starts in 2024 when it came to preventing runs, both his walk rate and strikeout rate were poor during that stretch. Neither was an issue in the minor leagues, and his walk rate in particular shouldn’t be an issue as he’s always thrown strikes – but this is an area where he’s going to have to improve at the highest level.
Lowder missed all of the 2025 season. An elbow injury kept him off of the mound in the spring and early part of the season. He was on a rehab assignment in Triple-A in late May and injured his oblique. That kept him off the mound for nearly four months. He returned to Louisville in mid-September but only made one start before taking another break as his arm didn’t “recover” as he would have liked following that start. He did pitch in the Arizona Fall League, making four starts and throwing 9.0 innings.
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4. Tyson Lewis | SS | Age: 20
2025 Teams: ACL Reds/Daytona | Acquired: 2nd round, 2024 Draft | Height: 6′ 2″ | Weight: 195 lbs | B/T: L/R
What to like: If you want a guy who has all of the tools, then Tyson Lewis is your guy. He posts high exit velocities, is very fast, plays a premium defensive position, and he found plenty of success in his professional debut.
What he needs to work on: Lewis hit well in both the complex league and in Daytona, but in his 35 games with the Tortugas he struck out 35% of the time. That’s going to have to improve moving forward.
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2025 Stats
5. Chase Petty | RHP | Age: 22
2025 Team: Louisville/Cincinnati| Acquired: Trade (Minnesota, 2022) | Height: 6′ 1″ | Weight: 190 lbs | B/T: R/R
What to like: He reached the big leagues just after his 22nd birthday. Petty throws five pitches and in the minor leagues he’s thrown plenty of strikes. His fastball has been up to 99 MPH and he’s got average or better offerings across the board.
What he needs to work on: His first half in Triple-A was actually quite good. But something changed in the second half and he was bad. Real bad. His strike rate dropped, hitters started making more and harder contact against him. Not only does he need to get back to throwing more strikes and finding more success in Triple-A, he’s got to then be able to take that next step to the big leagues where he had a lot of struggles in limited use in 2025.
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2025 Stats
Click here to see the other parts of this series.