Cincinnati Reds #16 Prospect: 2B Shed Long

Shed Long finished the 2015 season on an absolute tear after a late season call up to Dayton. The second baseman returned to the Dragons lineup to begin the 2016 season and he picked up right where he left off. Long hit two home runs that first week to go along with a .296 average while playing every day. Things slowed down a little bit in the following week, but he walked more than he struck out despite going just 5-23. In the final eight games of April his bat heated back up, particularly in the power category as he smacked four doubles and a home run while going 7-26 (.269). The month turned out to be a solid opener, posting a .263/.313/.461 line with four steals, six walks and 15 strikeouts.

May didn’t get out to a good start for Shed Long as he slumped through the first eight games, going 4-26 (.154). The then 20-year-old went on a tear for the rest of the month for Dayton. In 72 plate appearances he went 20-62 (.323) with nine walks, nine doubles and two home runs. He posted a .973 OPS in that time frame to boost his overall line on the month to .275/.371/.451.

The next month things got out to another slow start. In the first week he managed to hit .100, going 2-20 in five games played. Over the next 12 days though, Shed Long went wild on the Midwest League, going 17-45 (.378) with seven walks (.462 OBP), four doubles and four home runs (.733 slugging). He even added in a stolen base for good measure. He didn’t play for the next three days, but returned to the lineup and went 0-12 from the 23rd through the 25th. After the mini-slump he got the bat going again, hitting .389 and slugging .611 in the final five games. In 25 games on the month he would hit .283/.389/.522 with 16 walks and 26 strikeouts.

Shed Long carried his hot bat into July. He had a hit in the first nine games of the month, going 14-35 (.400). He went into a bit of a slump in the middle of the month though, going 1-16 in four games from the 13th-17th. He caught fire after that for Dayton, hitting .320/.469/.520 in the next seven games. That earned him a promotion to Advanced-A Daytona near the end of the month. In the final five games, all with the Tortugas, he hit .294/.316/.471 with a home run and a walk. Over his 112 plate appearances he hit .299/.384/.392 on the month with 10 walks and 28 strikeouts.

The first week of August may have been the best week for Shed Long all season. He went 11-22 with a double and two home runs, good for a 1.405 OPS on the week. He cooled down in the second week, but only because the first week was so impressive. In the eight games (two different double headers) played he hit .333/.382/.600 with three doubles, a triple and a home run. The third week of August did see Long slow down some, though he still managed a hit in every game, extending his hit streak to 12 in the process (.768 OPS). In the final two weeks of the season he would go 11-42 (.262) to finish up the final five week stretch of the season with a .328/.382/.516 line in 32 games played.

Shed Long came out of nowhere late in 2015 and burst onto the prospect scene with a late burst of impressive production for a teenager in Dayton. He came out in 2016 and did more of the same, showing that it wasn’t just a small sample size run of him seeing the ball well. Between the two stops in A-ball the 20-yearold hit .293 with 50 extra-base hits and 21 steals while playing second base. He showed a well rounded set of skills at both stops.

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Shed Long Scouting Report

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Hitting | Shed Long can use the entire field and he can hit the ball hard to all parts of the field. He projects to hit for a solid average in the future, where .275-.280 isn’t out of the possibilities for him in the Major Leagues.

Power | Despite being just 5′ 8″ tall, he’s got plenty of strength and his bat is quick. He generates loft with some uppercut in his swing, but he’s got the ability to hit the ball out from line to line – though he clearly has more pull power than opposite field power. He’s got average to slightly above-average power potential.

Running | He stole 21 bases in 2016 and 15-20 steals is a possibility in the big leagues thanks to above-average speed.

Arm | He’s got a good enough arm to handle second base without a problem.

Defense | He’s an athletic second baseman with good, but not outstanding range.

While he is undersized for your typical player, Shed Long has plenty of athleticism and his size is more limited by height than it is by strength, much like Jose Altuve he’s a strong guy who just happens to be short. His game is fairly well rounded at this point, but there’s not much room for physical development moving forward. If there are going to be improvements moving forward they are far more likely to be due to an improvement in skills – such as cutting down his strikeout rate, instead of physical improvements that lead to more power and a better average.

Spray Chart

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