The great folks over at Baseball America have updated their Top 100 Prospect List today. There’s some good news from the update, and some not-so-good news from the update.
Let’s start out with the rankings themselves. Before the update the Cincinnati Reds had three Top 100 prospects. After the update the Cincinnati Reds have three Top 100 prospects. The three players are the same. Nick Senzel remains in the Top 10 overall, and is ranked 8th. He didn’t move up or down. Taylor Trammell, just named an All-Star in the Florida State League, moved up to 28th overall on the list. He was previously ranked 46th. Hunter Greene fell to the 38th spot on the list. The 18-year-old was previously ranked 30th.
So, the good news is that the Cincinnati Reds have three players in the Top 40 in all of Minor League Baseball. The ascent of Taylor Trammell over the last year into the Top 30 is a great to see, and don’t be surprised if he’s even further up the list the next time it is updated. Nick Senzel’s battle with vertigo doesn’t seem to be worrying too many people involved with the rankings at Baseball America given that he stayed put exactly where he was.
The not-so-good news is that no one else made the list. I believe there’s an argument to be made that a few guys should have at least been in the conversation. And perhaps they were. Shed Long is showing plenty of things in Double-A Pensacola. Tyler Stephenson and Tony Santillan are both throwing up impressive numbers in the Florida State League with Daytona. It may be a tad too early to start tossing Jeter Downs name in there, but maybe it’s not, either. He’s a middle infielder with a 1st round pedigree who is showing off power and speed in the Midwest League as a teenager.
This update was the second since the list was released following the 2017 season. That list included both Jesse Winker and Tyler Mahle, but both have since exhausted their prospect eligibility.