Cincinnati Reds Top 25 Prospect List: 6-10

It’s that time of year again. Prospect ranking time. Every day this week we are going to unveil five more spots on the list as we work our way through the Cincinnati Reds Top 25 Prospect List for the 2016 season. You can see the entire list (once it’s published in it’s entirety) here.

Subscribers will get to see the top ranking tool for each player. All ages listed are as of June 30th of the past season and is the official “age” of a player during the 2015 season.

On Friday afternoon there will be an All Questions Answered thread to take on any questions about the list.

*To be eligible for the list a player must have 2015 Rookie of the Year eligibility (Fewer than 130 at bats in the big leagues, fewer than 50 innings pitches or more than 45 days on the active MLB roster that doesn’t include September)*

6.  Yorman Rodriguez | OF | Age: 22

2015 Teams: Louisville Bats, Cincinnati Reds | Acquired Free Agent signing, 2008 | Height: 6′ 2″ | Weight: 210 lbs

After a slow start in April, for the Louisville Bats, Yorman Rodriguez turned things around over the next 69 games of the season, hitting .288/.322/.459. The 22-year-old was among the youngest players in Triple-A and more than held his own, but he will need to perform better when it comes to his strikeout-to-walk ratio than he showed in Louisville. His season came to an end with a calf strain that lingered over the final month-and-a-half of the season.

7. Phillip Ervin |OF | Age: 22

2015 Teams: Daytona Tortugas, Pensacola Blue Wahoos | Acquired: 1st Round, 2013 Draft | Height: 5′ 10″ | Weight: 205 lbs

No one in the system got out to a better start to the 2015 season than Phillip Ervin did, but he cooled down as the season went along in the extremely pitcher friendly Florida State League. He was leading the league in home runs when he was promoted to Double-A Pensacola where he played the final three weeks of the season. Between his two stops he hit .241/.346/.379, but don’t let the line fool you, he was .121 points better in OPS than the Southern League average was and  .063 better than the Florida State League average was. He also did that while stealing 34 bases, his second straight year with 30 or more steals.

8. Alex Blandino | 2B | Age: 22

2015 Teams: Daytona Tortugas, Pensacola Blue Wahoos | Acquired: 1st Round, 2014 Draft | Height: 6′ 0″ | Weight: 190 lbs

Alex Blandino was one of the few players that put up strong numbers in the Florida State League in 2015. While with the Daytona Tortugas the infielder posted an .808 OPS, which was leading the league when he was promoted to Double-A in the first week of August. He finished the final month of the season with the Blue Wahoos where he struggled to hit for an average, but showed a good plate approach and solid power and posted an OPS of .724, which was better than the league average of .700.

9. Sal Romano | RHP | Age: 21

2015 Teams: Daytona Tortugas, Pensacola Blue Wahoos | Acquired: 23rd Round, 2011 Draft | Height: 6′ 5″ | Weight: 250 lbs

The big right hander pitched well for the Daytona Tortugas  over the first two months before having a hiccup in June where he walked 18 batters with 22 strikeouts in June. He rebounded well with just four walks in July and earned a promotion to Double-A Pensacola. He struggled to adjust to the league in seven starts, posting an ERA of 10.96 in 23.0 innings to end the season. Romano was just one of seven players under the age of 22 to get at least seven starts in the Southern League in 2015, so while he certainly struggled, he was one of the youngest pitchers to come through the league and get actual playing time.

10. Tyler Stephenson | C | Age: 18

2015 Team: Billings Mustang | Acquired: 1st Round, 2015 Draft | Height: 6′ 4″ | Weight: 225 lbs

The Reds selected Tyler Stephenson with the 11th overall pick in the 2015 draft and after signing quickly, he was sent to Billings to play for the Mustangs. While the thing he was best known for coming out of high school, his power, didn’t show up much, the rest of his offensive game was pretty good as he hit .268/.352/.361 with 22 walks and 42 strikeouts. He also threw out 27% of opposing base runners while he was behind the plate.

Top Tools

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Yorman Rodriguez | The outfielder has at least average tools across the board, but his plus arm is the best of his tools.

Phillip Ervin | Ervin, like Rodriguez, has solid tools across the board. His above-average to plus speed is his best tool.

Alex Blandino | Blandino has at least fringe average tools across the board, but his hit tool stands out as the best of the group as a potentially above-average hit tool.

Sal Romano | Among the starting pitchers in the system, no one was throwing harder at times this season than Romano, who sat 96-98 MPH more than a few times during the season with his fastball.

Tyler Stephenson | His power didn’t show up as an 18-year-old in the Pioneer League, but he’s got above-average power potential to tap into.

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