over 119 mph<\/a> in his pro debut, was the Gatorade Player of the Year in Nebraska prior to being a 2nd round pick (with an overslot bonus) by the Reds, and was originally committed to the University of Arkansas.<\/p>\nThe upside here is obvious, as he\u2019s got one of the loudest bats at any level. The swing and miss stuff, though, is something he\u2019ll have to completely overhaul as he moves up the ladder, though getting out of the extremely pitcher-friendly confines of the FSL will perhaps help that some.<\/p>\n
Steele Hall, SS (18 years old)<\/p>\n
2025 at a glance: Drafted 9th overall in the 1st round of the 2025 MLB Draft by the Cincinnati Reds out of Hewitt-Trussville HS (AL); 2025 Mr. Baseball in the state of Alabama, once committed to powerhouse University of Tennessee before signing with the Reds for $5.75 million<\/p>\n
Pros: Speed, and plenty of it; projectable power and potential five-tool player whose defense and arm look like they\u2019ll play plenty well at short; just 17 years old when drafted after reclassifying a year early<\/p>\n
Cons: It\u2019s all still \u2018projectable\u2019 as, again, he just turned 18 after the draft and has zero professional PA to show for it<\/p>\n
Hall reclassified to the class of 2025 despite originally being part of the class of 2026, and the Reds – who\u2019d been scouting him already – thought he had the talent to eventually mature into a player who\u2019d be in the mix for the #1 overall pick in 2026. So, when he was there at pick #9 in 2025, they jumped at the chance to sign him, knowing full well there was no rush for his development.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s drawn comparisons to the likes of Trea Turner and Dansby Swanson, which is pretty damn lofty. Despite not having played a pro game and still being just 18, he\u2019s ranked 79th in MLB Pipeline\u2019s list of the Top 100 overall prospects in the game. How quickly he can physically mature and adapt to breaking balls at the top levels remains to be seen, but the speed, glove, and arm all look like they\u2019ll be big-league caliber in very short order.<\/p>\n
Aaron Watson, RHP (19 years old)<\/p>\n
2025 at a glance: Drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2nd round of the 2025 MLB Draft out of Trinity Christian Academy (FL); signed overslot $2.7 million bonus to forego commitment to the University of Florida<\/p>\n
Pros: 6\u20195\u201d frame; potential 60-grade slider; fastball that runs up to 96 mph from a three-quarter arm slot and already has a solid three-pitch mix with his change rotated in<\/p>\n
Cons: Did not pitch professionally after being drafted, so he\u2019s a complete unknown<\/p>\n
One glimpse of Watson on the mound and you immediately think yep, I bet that guy can turn into a pretty dang good pitcher. He\u2019s got an ideal frame to produce downhill offerings, and his fastball\/slider mix is already something on which he can hang his hat.<\/p>\n
However, command of all three of his pitches – specifically a very developmental changeup – will be what he needs to work on to begin to move quickly through the ranks. He possesses a good \u2018feel\u2019 at the moment in terms of what pitches to throw, which part of the zone to attack vs. which hitters, etc., but how well he can build in more deception with his offerings will be vital.<\/p>\n
Jose Franco, RHP (25 years old)<\/p>\n
2025 at a glance: 3.11 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 118\/54 K\/BB in 110.0 IP split between AA Chattanooga Lookouts (Southern League) and AAA Louisville Bats (International League)<\/p>\n
Pros: Fastball that flirts with triple digits with ease<\/p>\n
Cons: Secondary pitches need work, and that\u2019s impacting his overall command (and ability to limit walks)<\/p>\n
Franco turned 25 years old in November and earned a promotion to the 40-man roster of the Reds shortly thereafter due to his consistent performance across the upper levels of their farm system.<\/p>\n
The Reds have a few hulks they\u2019ve put on the mound in recent years, and Franco thoroughly qualifies. He\u2019s listed at 6\u20192\u201d and an oddly specific 257 lbs, and his size and frame allows him to tap into his excellent fastball velocity with ease. It\u2019s the pitch he misses bats with the most, but how well he can differentiate his breaking pitches (and improve his changeup command) will determine whether or not he can a) get left-handed hitter out with aplomb and b) avoid ending up in the bullpen.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s been a late bloomer, in part due to injuries that cost him his entire 2023 season, and if he continues the path he\u2019s been on since getting healthy there could be a whole lot more from him as early as 2026 for Cincinnati.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Edwin Arroyo has a chance to fight his way onto the Cincinnati Reds roster at some point in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":525582,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2400],"tags":[5,535,50,4259,67081,4,536],"class_list":{"0":"post-525581","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cincinnati-reds","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-cincinnati","10":"tag-cincinnati-reds","11":"tag-cincinnatireds","12":"tag-community-prospect-rankings","13":"tag-mlb","14":"tag-reds"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115912539425943470","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=525581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/525582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=525581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=525581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}