Photo: Doug Gray
Baseball America recently released their Top 100 prospects list and now it’s time for the MLB Pipeline list. It was unveiled live on MLB Network on Friday night and there were four Cincinnati Reds players that made the list. Two of those four guys have already played in the big leagues in Sal Stewart and Rhett Lowder. Those two are joined by Alfredo Duno and Steele Hall.
Sal Stewart is the top Reds prospect on the list, coming in at #22 overall. The infielder, who is reportedly down over 20 lbs this offseason, had a big year in 2025. He would hit over .300 at both Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Louisville. He also hit 10 home runs at each level. All of that earned the now 22-year-old a call up to the big leagues in September where he added another five home runs, giving him 25 on the year. Stewart hit .309/.383/.524 in the minor leagues in 118 games this season and then put up an OPS of .839 in 18 games with Cincinnati in the final month of the season.
16 spots down the list is Alfredo Duno, checking in at #38. The catcher spent the full season in Single-A Daytona where he terrorized pitchers throughout the season. Duno won the league’s MVP award after hitting .287/.430/.518 with 32 doubles, 18 home runs, and walking four more times than he struck out. His .287 average was second best in the league among qualified hitters and he led the league in homers, runs scored, runs batted in, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, walks, and doubles.
You’ve got to drop down the list quite a bit to find the final two Reds on the list. At #83 is Steele Hall and at #85 is Rhett Lowder. For Hall this is his first showing on a top 100 list this offseason. The teenager was the club’s 1st round pick this past July. He didn’t play in any official games as the complex league season ended less than two weeks after the draft took place, but he did get into games in the bridge league – an unofficial league most teams participate in that is similar to how things are set up in spring training games for minor leaguers. Hall is a potential 5-tool shortstop with blazing speed.
Lowder has dropped down the list over the last year, but that is what tends to happen when you miss the entire season. An injury in the offseason last year led to him beginning the year on the injured list and then he had an oblique injury while rehabbing his elbow injury. That one would cost him most of the rest of the season, but he did get in some rehab late in the year before he was shut down in the final two weeks. Cincinnati did send him out to the Arizona Fall League where he pitched 9.0 innings spread out over four games.
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