The Cincinnati Reds have been busy with all of the promotions of late and the moves that came through on Wednesday was that outfielder Jay Allen II was moved from Double-A Chattanooga to Triple-A Louisville and that Marcus Smith is moving up to Chattanooga from High-A Dayton.
It’s been a strong season for Jay Allen II. He struggled in April, hitting just .238/.351/.318 in 18 games in April with the Lookouts. Things turned around after that as he caught fire in May and in the 72 games since the month began he’s hit .291/.380/.523 since.
The 23-year-old entered the year with 10 home runs in 2024 being his career high. He has blown past that total this season, hitting 15 of them this year in his 90 games played. Allen II also has 18 doubles on the year, which leaves him one behind his career best that came in 119 games last season with Chattanooga. While his stolen base rate is down from where he has been in the past, he’s still 17-for-22 on the year in stolen base attempts.
Each of his 2025 and 2026 seasons were spent with Chattanooga. The 2026 season has gone much better. His average is up 53 points to .280, his on-base percentage is up 66 points to .374, and his slugging percentage is up 150 points to .483. In total that’s raised his OPS 206 points from where it was in 2025. He’s striking out a little less than 2025, but the big difference has been that he’s simply hitting for a lot more power.
You can see the career stats for Jay Allen II here.
Marcus Smith signed with the Reds out of indy league baseball earlier in the summer. He had struggled to hit in affiliated ball in the past, but he crushed the ball for the Kansas City Monarchs in the American Association this year before joining Cincinnati’s farm system. Smith went to Dayton and he showed off power that he’s never shown in previous years, but he did still struggle to make contact – though his contact rates have been better than ever, he is still striking out 33% of the time he steps to the plate. Still, he’s been better than he has in past years and now gets a second crack at Double-A after spending a few months there last season with the Texas Rangers farm system.
You can see the career stats for Marcus Smith here.
Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. You go Jay!!!
Is Jalen Hairston entering the the top 30 conversation?
Maybe Allen is ready for the Reds next season. They need all the help they can get. OTH, Marcus Smith’s stat lines look at the worst form of wishful thinking posing as strategy.
It took some time for him to develop. I’m hoping he’s not Phil Ervin.