Just over a year ago the Cincinnati Reds signed Angel Salio as a part of their 2025 international signing class. The infielder was originally expected to sign with the Colorado Rockies but ultimately wound up with Cincinnati.
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After signing in January, Angel Salio had to then wait nearly five months to make his professional debut since the Dominican Summer League doesn’t begin until June. But on the 2nd of the month he took the field for the first time, going 0-2 with a walk. He then proceeded to run off a 9-game hit streak over the next 18 days where he had 15 hits that included five doubles and two triples. But he would go into a big of a slump to end the month, going 2-20.
When July began he got things going at the plate again. He had hits in the first three games before going 0-2 with a walk on the 7th. He would have hits in nine of the remaining ten games during the month and in the only game he did not get a hit in he drew a walk, extending his on-base streak to 18 games.
After July ended on a 4-game hitting streak for Salio he kept it going into August with hits in the first five games, including in the game on August 1st where he hit his first professional home run. He allowed that game up with a double in the next game and then a triple in each of the next three before his 9-game hitting streak ended in game two of a doubleheader on the 8th when he went 0-4 with a walk. Four games later his on-base streak came to an end at 27 games. He came back on the 18th with a 2-hit game before rounding out the season by going 0-3 in the season finale.
For all 2025 Season Reviews and Scouting Reports – click here (these will come out during the week throughout the offseason).
Position: 3BÂ | B/T: L/R
Height: 6′ 2″ | Weight: 170 lbs. | Acquired: International FA (2025) | Born: February 16, 2008
When he was signed, plenty of places had Angel Salio listed as a shortstop but he would spend most of his time at third base in 2025, making just eight starts there and another 33 at third base. At both spots he made his share of errors and posted a fielding percentage of .900 at shortstop and .901 at third base. Errors at 17-years-old don’t mean much, but it will be something he’s going to need to clean up as he continues his development. Long term he’s probably not a shortstop and is more likely to fit in at third base.
In 2025 Salio hit well. He walked more often than he struck out, he made tons of contact – striking out just 10% of the time he came to the plate, and he showed off a good amount of extra-base hit power for his age. As a left-handed hitter he did well in his very limited interactions against left-handed pitchers, going 4-12 with five walks and just one strikeout.
There’s still plenty of room on his frame for him to fill out and get stronger. He has some power potential to tap into down the line if that happens. But in order to get that to show up in his game he’s likely going to have to elevate the ball a bit more than he did in his debut. His groundball rate was 55% this past season and it’s just difficult to find extra-base hits when you are hitting the ball on the ground. That’s an area guys can improve, but it’s worth keeping an eye on moving forward. He’s an above-average runner and was only caught stealing once in 15 tries during the season.
At 17-years-old, Angel Salio has a whole lot of development to do still. He’s still working on figuring out where he’s going to play defensively. He’s still not played in the US, much less full season ball. But he did just about all one could ask of him at the plate in his debut as he hit for a high average, walked more often than he struck out, made contact at a very high rate, showed off some pop, and he added in plenty of steals at a high rate of success. There’s upside for him to be a well-rounded offensive player with his defensive home still kind of out there as to be determined, but also likely a spot where he’s not going to be dinged for wherever he does wind up.
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Interesting Stat on Angel Salio
He did not play any games on Wednesday or Sunday during the season. He hit .320 or higher each day of the week except for Friday, where he hit .273.