It’s that time of year again where we look at the Cincinnati Reds Top 25 Prospects. Each day this week we will unveil five more spots on the list as we work our way through the Cincinnati Reds Top 25 Prospect List for the 2019 season. You can see the entire list here (once it’s completed at the end of the week). If you were supporting the site on Patreon you would have gotten the entire Top 25 list last week and had early access to this, and all other scouting related articles that show up on the site. Click that orange banner above to see what all you can get for helping keep the site alive and kicking.
Just as a reminder, these write ups will not feature full scouting reports. Those will be included with the Season Reviews, which will start in a week – first working my way through the Top 25 prospects before then branching out into another 50-75 interesting prospects through the remainder of the offseason.
*To be eligible for the list a player must have 2019 Rookie of the Year eligibility (Fewer than 130 at bats in the big leagues, fewer than 50 innings pitches or less than 45 days on the active MLB roster that doesn’t include September)*
1. Nick Senzel | 2B/3B/OF | Age: 23
2018 Team: Louisville Bats | Acquired: 1st round, 2016 Draft | Height: 6′ 1″ | Weight: 205 lbs
The last year has been a wild ride for Nick Senzel. His 2017 season ended due to complications with vertigo in the final few weeks. After treatment he hit the offseason to work on playing both second base and shortstop to prepare for 2018. The shortstop experiment didn’t seem to stick once the regular season began. The second base move, however, did. With the Triple-A Louisville Bats he hit .310/.378/.509, but another bout with vertigo cost him a few weeks, and his season was cut short with a finger injury.
He participated in instructional league as an outfielder, spending time in both left and center field. The Reds are looking at every possible option for him to try and find a way to get him into the lineup at the Major League level. Unfortunately, another injury kept him out of the Arizona Fall League. Senzel needed bone spurs removed from his elbow. He is expected to be ready in time for spring training.
Biggest Strength: It’s tough to pick just one thing because Nick Senzel is strong across the board. The fact that he doesn’t really have a weakness may very well be the strength. He’s incredibly well rounded – above-average across the board.
Biggest Weakness: The last 15 months have really been tough for Nick Senzel from a health standpoint. While there doesn’t seem to be a big concern about the vertigo from Senzel or the Reds, between that, the elbow, and the finger injury – if there’s something at all to point to, it would be the health. This hasn’t been a long-term thing for Senzel, but that stretch was very tough.
2. Hunter Greene | RHP | Age: 19
2018 Team: Dayton Dragons | Acquired: 1st Round, 2017 Draft | Height: 6′ 4″ | Weight: 215 lbs
Hunter Greene was the top prospect in the 2017 draft, though he went second overall. He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a high school senior. His fastball routinely hit 100 MPH and frequently hit higher than that. With all of that said, the first month of his 2018 season in Dayton went as poorly as one could imagine. He made five starts and lasted just 9.2 total innings. Greene allowed 21 hits, 10 walks, and hit a batter in that span, posting a 13.97 ERA. The youngest starting pitcher in the league at just 18-years-old, the Reds gave him a time through the rotation off following that 5th start. From that point forward he dominated the Midwest League. From May 12th through July 26th he posted a 2.91 ERA with 13 walks, 71 strikeouts and a WHIP just under 1.00 over 58.2 innings.
Unfortunately for Hunter Greene, that start on July 26th would be his final start of the year. He began to feel something in his elbow and was ultimately shut down in early August after an MRI revealed a tear in his Ulnar Collateral Ligament. The current plan is to attempt to rehab the elbow in the offseason and avoid Tommy John surgery. With or without the surgery, Greene’s upside is as high as you can dream. The timeline, however, could be pushed back if he does need the surgery. Update: Hunter Greene said that he is 100% 16 hours after this article was published.
Biggest Strength: Hunter Greene may be the hardest throwing starting pitcher we’ve seen. In the Futures Game he threw the 19 fastest pitches in the game, averaging 101.3 MPH on his fastball in the outing. He topped out at 103.1 MPH in the game.
Biggest Weakness: The health issue aside, the change up is a clear third offering. That speaks more to what his fastball and slider are, than the change up, though.
3. Taylor Trammell | OF | Age: 21
2018 Team: Daytona Tortugas | Acquired: 1st Round, 2016 Draft | Height: 6′ 2″ | Weight: 195 lbs
The 2018 season got out to a nice start for Taylor Trammell. He was hitting .308/.418/.491 at the end of May with 29 walks and 37 strikeouts for the Daytona Tortugas. Things slowed down quite a bit from there, though. Over the final 65 games of the season, beginning in June, he hit .256/.346/.349 in the pitcher friendly Florida State League. In that span, like April and May, he walked 29 times. But he struck out 68 times in that stretch. One area where his game did improve in that time was on the base paths, where he went 20-of-25 in stolen base attempts after going 5-of-10 in the first two months.
The highlight of the year for Taylor Trammell probably came in the Futures Game. The outfielder took home Most Valuable Player honors with a 438 foot home run, and a 414 foot triple that he thought was a home run off of the bat. He was battling through injuries during the season, but remained on the field. It likely held back some production throughout the season.
Biggest Strength: The whole offensive package that Taylor Trammell brings is probably his biggest strength. He projects to hit for average and power, and he should also bring good value on the bases.
Biggest Weakness: The weakness that’s followed Taylor Trammell since his high school days is his arm strength. While it’s improved since then, it’s the only below-average tool he has in the belt.
4. Tony Santillan | RHP | Age: 21
2018 Team: Daytona Tortugas, Pensacola Blue Wahoos | Acquired: 2nd Round, 2015 Draft | Height: 6′ 3″ | Weight: 240 lbs
The 2018 season was a big time breakout for Tony Santillan. A guy who always flashed elite stuff, he had struggled to be consistent in the past. That was not a problem in 2018. Beginning with Daytona, the righty posted a 2.70 ERA for the Tortugas in 15 starts in the first half. His strikeout rate was down, but his walk rate was borderline elite after being well below-average prior to 2018. He was promoted to Double-A Pensacola for the second half and barely skipped a beat. In a more hitter friendly league his ERA jumped up to 3.61 over his 11 starts with the Blue Wahoos. His walk rate remained the same, but he also saw his strikeout rate jump back up to previous levels.
Early in the year, Tony Santillan wasn’t pressing the gas with his fastball. As the season got further along he began to throw harder and the strikesouts began to come more frequently. It was the big improvements in control during the 2018 season, though, that took Santillan from very intriguing arm to one of the better pitching prospects in baseball.
Biggest Strength: Tony Santillan’s fastball can sit in the 94-96 MPH range and touched 100 at times.
Biggest Weakness: It used to be control and consistency from game to game with control. Now it’s probably his change up, which can be a very good pitch at times, but does have some consistency issues at times, too.
5. Jonathan India | 3B | Age: 21
2018 Team: Greeneville, Billings, Dayton | Acquired: 1st Round, 2018 Draft | Height: 6′ 1″ | Weight: 200 lbs
Jonathan India began the year playing baseball at the University of Florida. After a big junior year he was drafted 5th overall by the Cincinnati Reds. He got out to a strong start with Greeneville, hitting .261/.452/.543 with more walks than strikeouts in the two-and-a-half weeks he was in town. The long season that began in February at Florida began to catch up with him down the stretch, though. He hit just .231/.344/.385 between Billings and Dayton in the final 30 games of the year.
During the season the Reds used Jonathan India at third base for the most part, but also played him at shortstop in nine games during the season. There’s some belief that he could play second base, too – though he doesn’t have the experience there as a pro.
Biggest Strength: Power. You can watch the video above and see a home run that he hit on a pitch just out of the strikezone 410 feet. He’s a strong guy who can punish pitches in different areas of the zone.
Biggest Weakness: He’s a well rounded player without an obvious weakness. His hit tool may be the one that is slightly behind the others, but that speaks more to the other tools, as hit hit tool projects to be average in the future.
