The year after he was drafted, Jonathan India was rated by Baseball America as the #51 prospect in baseball. He was the 5th overall pick in the 2018 Major League Baseball draft, coming off of a big junior season at Florida and showed good tools in his professional debut while making stops at three different levels of the Reds farm system. Injuries over the next year weren’t quite enough to keep him off of the field, but did keep him from performing up to his potential in his stops in Daytona and Chattanooga. With no stats to look at in 2020, it’s tough to say for sure how he performed, but all the reports were that he made big strides while healthy at Prasco Park for the Reds at their alternate site. Those reports got him back on some Top 100 prospect lists, but not Baseball America’s.
His performance in spring training helped earn him a spot on the Opening Day roster. And his first week in the big leagues saw him hit .476/.480/.619 with 10 RBI. When a player graduated from eligibility this week Baseball America removed that player from their Top 100 and had a spot open, pushing Jonathan India onto their list at #100. He probably won’t be on the list much longer, himself. Once he reaches 130 at-bats in the big leagues he, too, will graduate his prospect list eligibility and that should probably come within the next month.
For the time being this means that the Cincinnati Reds now have three players in the Top 100 prospects on Baseball America’s list. Shortstop Jose Garcia, who is playing with the Reds alternate site team in Louisville right now, comes in at #77 overall. Austin Hendrick, the organization’s 1st round pick in last years draft, comes in at #94. Hendrick is currently in Goodyear participating in minor league spring training, which began on Sunday.