It’s prospect list season and it seems that every few days we are getting a new Top 100 prospect list for all of Major League Baseball. Earlier today it was the Scout.com prospect list that came out and it had a total of six Cincinnati Reds prospects inside of the Top 100.
Robert Stephenson led the way for the organization. The right hander ranked 25th on the list overall, and was the 11th ranked pitcher. He was followed on the list by left handed pitcher Cody Reed, who comes in at 48th on the overall list and is the 18th pitcher that is ranked.
Jose Peraza is only a few spots further down the list, coming in as the 52nd ranked prospect. Jesse Winker finds himself ranked as the 83rd overall prospect on the list, his lowest ranking thus far among the national lists that we’ve seen. Two spots later we see the fifth Reds prospect to show up with Alex Blandino coming in as the 85th ranked prospect. Left handed pitcher Amir Garrett comes in as the final prospect from the organization to make the list, coming in as the 91st prospect on the list.
The six players on the list is the best showing thus far among the national lists that we’ve seen, with Alex Blandino being the new guy to rank among the Top 100. Only the Pirates had more prospects inside the Top 100 and they had seven players. Only the Dodgers matched the six players that the Reds had listed.
The big list every year is the Baseball America Top 100, which has been the industry standard since it first debuted back in 1990 and is the longest running list out there. What also helps make it more reliable is the lack of turnover year-to-year from the people who are in charge of making the rankings, which we see far more frequently at other outlets. That gives more accountability in the rankings as we can look at past list and say that “they” did a good/solid/bad job and find out what the thinking was with those rankings. It’s a lot tougher to do that with lists from most other places who have cycled through writers at a much higher frequency over the years as the voices and approach change. The Baseball America list will be out on Friday the 12th. Mark your calendars.