After a week off, we are back in action with the State of the Farm series. This week we are going to look at the center fielders. After this week it will only be the starters and relievers among the pitchers that remain in the series. You can see all of the State of the Farm articles here.
For now, Billy Hamilton has center field locked down in Cincinnati. Hamilton has had problems staying healthy, though. In 2015 and 2016 he failed to play in 120 games due to injuries. He’s also entering arbitration and has free agency looming after 2019. That gives the Reds some time to find a long term answer if Hamilton doesn’t sign beyond there. The injury concerns could mean they will look for someone, at least in a backup role, sooner.
Starting at the bottom of the chain with the Arizona League Reds, Michael Beltre began the year as their center fielder. He performed quite well and was promoted up to Billings halfway through the season. The then 20-year-old had a breakout season, hitting .299/.399/.481 with 13 doubles, six triples and three home runs. He also had 26 walks and 39 strikeouts in 219 plate appearances. Defensively he saw time in all three spots between the two stops. He’s got the speed to play center right now, though there’s a chance he could outgrow the position if he fills out his frame a little bit.
Billings had a trio of guys that could profile as future center fielders. As noted above, Beltre joined the team halfway through the season. Jose Siri actually spent the most time in center for the Mustangs, but he was covered in the corner outfield portion of the series. Taylor Trammell and T.J. Friedl both saw time in center for the Mustangs. Trammell was the compensation 1st round pick made by the team out of high school in 2016. He would see more time in the corners, defensively, but right now can still play center field just fine. He may grow out of the position if his frame fills out over the next few years. At the plate he more than held his own. The then 18-year-old hit .303/.374/.421 and improved as the season went along. Trammell doubled nine times with six triples and two home runs. He also added in 24 stolen bases, 23 walks and 57 strikeouts in 254 plate appearances.
T.J. Friedl was the talk of the summer after the draft. Many teams only noticed he was draft eligible after the draft, though some knew he was draft eligible and chose to pass. After performing very well with Team USA over the summer teams began to try and sign him and it worked out well for the Reds who had the most available bonus money to spend. That led to the largest bonus in history for a domestic amateur player. To say that Friedl had a good debut would be an understatement. In 29 games he hit .347/.423/.545. That came along with 11 doubles, two triples and three home runs. He also added in seven steals, 13 walks and 25 strikeouts in 137 plate appearances. Defensively almost all of his time came in center, though he saw four games in left as well. He profiles to remain in center field for the long term with plus speed.
In Dayton there was a revolving door of center fielders. No one played in more than 42 games and six guys played at least 10 games there (and nine guys played the position during the year). Mitch Piatnik and Zach Shields saw the most action (30 games and 42 games) in center. Both guys have tons of speed and can cover plenty of ground out there. Offensively, though, both players struggled. Piatnik spent most of the year in Dayton, but saw 11 games in Billings as well. Between the two stops he hit .252/.295/.346 with 18 walks and 127 strikeouts in 350 plate appearances. Shields was with the Dragons all season long. In 101 games he hit .240/.293/.311 with 24 walks and 82 strikeouts. He also added in 22 stolen bases.
Daytona had one guy man center field nearly all season. Jonathan Reynoso started 112 of the games for the Tortugas. The 23-year-old hit .285/.319/.321 with 17 walks and 91 strikeouts in 412 plate appearances. He added 31 steals, eight doubles and three triples. He’s got plenty of speed and can handle the position fine. At the plate he’s going to need to find a way to improve the strikeout-to-walk ratio and more power would be good to see as well.
Pensacola saw a revolving door of center fielders in 2016. Jeff Gelalich and Phillip Ervin both played 30+ games at the spot. They were both covered in the corner outfield portion of this series. Beau Amaral played in 37 games with the team and another 29 for the Louisville Bats. He missed part of the season after having surgery to fix Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. He would spend two weeks rehabbing with the Billings Mustangs before returning to Pensacola in July. Between the three stops he would hit .260/.333/.366 in 79 games. He had 10 doubles, three triples and five home runs in 335 plate appearances. Amaral shines in the outfield. He’s not the fastest center fielder in the system, but he’s probably the best defender. The routes and reads that he makes allow him to get to tons of baseballs.
A possible wildcard worth mentioning is Cristian Olivo. The now 18-year-old dealt with a shoulder injury last season and he performed very poorly. He’s a long way away at this point, but he signed for $1M in the 2015-2016 international signing period and has plenty of tools to work with.
Overall Thoughts
The Reds have plenty of depth at the position, though it appears that if there’s a starter that will come from the group it’s going to come from one of the guys below full-season ball. A few players listed here and with the corner outfielders may project as solid backup center field types sooner than that group. It’s not the strongest group overall of prospects in the organization, but it’s a good group of guys to have overall.
Grade: B
Top Center Field Tools
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| Tool | Top Player |
| Hitting | Taylor Trammell |
| Current Power | Taylor Trammell |
| Raw Power | Taylor Trammell |
| Speed | TJ Friedl |
| Defense | Beau Amaral |
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