It’s been a while now, but the All-Star team for the organization (as picked by me) used to feature two teams. There was a full-season team and a rookie-ball team. But when Major League Baseball stepped in and took away all non-complex league rookie teams it just made no sense to have a rookie-level team any further even with two Dominican Summer League teams to go along with the ACL Reds. With that said, because of that there will be just one All-Star team and that’s going to mean that some very deserving players are left off. Here’s the Cincinnati Reds 2025 Minor League All-Star team.
There were a few catchers that put together quality seasons in 2025 for the Reds organization, but no one came close to hitting like Alfredo Duno did. In fact, no one in the entire farm system hit as well as he did. The 19-year-old catcher remained healthy for the first time in his career and he played in 113 games for Single-A Daytona. With the Tortugas he hit .287/.430/.518 with 32 doubles, two triples, 18 home runs, 78 runs scored, 81 RBI, and he walked 91 times. That all earned him the Florida State League Player of the Year as he led the league in nearly every category except steals, triples, and batting average (he was 2nd in the league). His 164 wRC+ topped the next best hitter in the organization by 12 points.
For the second straight year this spot goes to Edwin Rios. He spent the entire season in Triple-A. His 2025 wasn’t as strong as his 2024, but he led the farm system with 26 home runs and 94 runs batted in. He hit .246/.337/.468 for Louisville with 69 runs scored, 23 doubles, two triples, and 63 walks in his 130 games played.
It was a bit of a down year at the second base position on the farm. Leo Balcazar actually played more shortstop this season than second base, but once he was promoted midseason to Double-A Chattanooga second base was his primary spot. In the first half with the High-A Dayton Dragons he put up a .746 OPS and hit nine home runs, which was 50% more home runs than he’d ever hit in a season before. After his promotion his OPS dropped to .677, but that was still a league average number as the Southern League plays out quite pitcher friendly. He would add another three home runs to give him 12 on the season and give him a year-end line of .263/.339/.381 with 20 doubles, a triple, 12 homers, 52 walks, and 75 strikeouts in 560 plate appearances.
When talking about Alfredo Duno above I mentioned that he was 12 points of wRC+ ahead of the next closest guy in the farm system. That guy was Sal Stewart. One can argue that Stewart had a better season, though, because he did what he did in Double-A and Triple-A (in the minors, ignoring that he got to the big leagues for September and the playoffs). He spent the first half in Chattanooga and hit .306/.377/.473. Stewart hit well in the first two months, but his power picked up in June and he never really looked back. After the Futures Game and All-Star break he moved up to Louisville and hit even better, posting a .315/.394/.629 line and matched his home run total from Chattanooga despite playing in just 38 games (after having played 80 with the Lookouts). Overall he hit .309/.383/.524 with 34 doubles, 20 home runs, 17 steals, 78 runs scored, and he drove in 80 before he joined the big league club.
There were a few good options to pick for this spot but I wound up choosing Tyson Lewis here. The 19-year-old made his professional debut in May with the complex league Reds and was one of the best players in the league. Over his 46 games out in Arizona he hit .340/.396/.532 with 19 extra-base hits and 19 steals. When that season ended near the last week of July he moved up to Single-A Daytona. With the Tortugas he would play in 35 more games and hit .268/.347/.417. Between his two stops he would hit .311/.376/.486 with 16 doubles, six triples, nine home runs, and 27 stolen bases in 81 games played.
After struggling in Triple-A in 2024, Rece Hinds returned to Louisville in 2025 and was there to chew bubble gum and crush baseballs, and he was all out of bubble gum. With the Bats he played in 107 games and hit .302/.359/.563. He had 26 doubles, two triples, 24 home runs, scored 79 runs, drove in 83, and he stole 21 bases. It was the second time in the last three seasons in which he went 20-20, and in 2024 he fell one home run shy from making it three years in a row.
The season began in Double-A for 21-year-old Hector Rodriguez. He would spend the entire first half with the Lookouts, playing 82 games. During that time he hit .298/.357/.481 with 15 doubles, three triples, and 12 home runs. After the All-Star break he moved up to Triple-A where he joined Louisville for the final 53 games of the year. With the Bats his power dropped off a little bit, but he added seven more home runs to give him a career high 19 of them on the year. Between the two stops he hit .283/.336/.450 with 23 doubles, four triples, 19 home runs, 92 runs scored, 65 runs driven in, and 15 stolen bases.
After a disappointing year in 2024 while splitting time with the Dominican Summer League Reds and Rojos, offseason swing changes paid off big time in 2025 for Adolfo Sanchez. He was limited to just 36 games, though, as once the Arizona Complex League season ended the Reds brought him to the states and cut his DSL season short by about four weeks. When he was on the field, though, he was outstanding. The 18-year-old hit .339/.474/.504 with eight doubles, three triples, two home runs, 10 stolen bases, and more walks than strikeouts in his 154 plate appearances.
The season started out a bit slow for Francisco Urbaez. In his first 17 games of the season he hit .222 and had a .598 OPS. But from that point forward to the end of the season he began to hit and he never looked back, hitting .333 over the final 80 games of the season for Louisville while walking more than he struck out. Urbaez would finish the year hitting .314/.381/.464 for Louisville while collecting 32 doubles, five triples, four home runs, and striking out just 40 times in 411 trips to the plate. He spent a majority of his time at second base, but he also saw action with the Bats at third base, left field, and designated hitter.
Among pitchers in the farm system who spent more time starting than relieving and threw at least 80 innings or more, Jose Franco led the Reds in ERA with a 3.11 mark. He began the year in Double-A and threw 58.2 innings for the Lookouts while posting a 2.76 ERA. In late June he moved from Chattanooga up to Triple-A to join Louisville. With the Bats he would throw 51.1 innings and posted an ERA of 3.51. Overall he threw 110.0 innings with a 3.11 ERA, allowed just 85 hits, walked 54, and he struck out 118 batters.
Starting Pitcher: JP Ortiz
Working in a tandem starting/reliever role like Single-A Daytona utilized much of the year for their entire rotation, JP Ortiz threw 91.1 innings and went 7-1 while posting a 2.86 ERA for the Tortugas. Among pitchers with at least 80 innings in the farm system his ERA was the lowest of everyone. The 21-year-old made 10 starts and had 16 relief appearances that mostly went as long as his starts had and allowed 77 hits and walked 33 batters to go along with 83 strikeouts on the year.
Coming off of a strong debut in 2024, Dony Aguilera was even better in 2025. The then 18-year-old pitched in 14 games for the Dominican Summer League Rojos and went 6-0 on the season. He threw 58.1 innings and posted a 1.70 ERA while giving up just 40 hits, walking 17 batters, and he struck out 52 of the 229 batters he faced. His ERA was third best in the DSL among qualified pitchers and he threw more innings than all but two pitchers in the league – both of whom threw 60 innings and they had ERA’s of 2.40 and 2.70).
Only two players in the farm system had double-digit saves. Luis Mey had 11 of them. The other guy was Trevor Kuncl and he had 20 of them. In his first season of affiliated ball after spending time in multiple indy leagues and then the Mexican Winter League when he signed with the Reds last fall, Kuncl was dominant for Chattanooga. On top of his 20 saves he threw 50.0 innings and posted a 2.34 ERA while giving up just three home runs, allowing just 37 hits, walking 17 batters, and he struck out 51 of the 199 hitters he saw.
The Lookouts had a heck of a 1-2 punch for much of the season as Joel Valdez was coupled with Kuncl. A minor league Rule 5 draft pick a year ago, the 25-year-old pitched in 26 games in Double-A this season and posted a 1.38 ERA in his 45.2 innings. Late in the year he moved up to Triple-A and threw 12 more innings, though he did struggle as he allowed eight runs in that span. Overall he threw 57.2 innings with a 2.34 ERA on the season while giving up just two home runs, walked 25, and he struck out 67 of the 249 hitters he faced.