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    Cincinnati Reds 2nd Round Draft Pick: Rece Hinds

    Doug Gray 47

    The Cincinnati Reds have selected shortstop Rece Hinds out of IMG Academy with the 49th overall pick and their 2nd round selection in the 2019 Major League Baseball Draft.

    Background

    • School: IMG Academy
    • Position: Shortstop
    • Height: 6′ 4″
    • Weight: 210 lbs.
    • Bats/Throws: Right/Right

    Scouting Report

    He’s got arguably the best raw power in the entire draft, and without a doubt the most raw power in the high school class. In the home run derby for high schoolers he hit a 485-foot home run, showing off just how incredible his power can be. On the other side of the ball he also shows off the power with a plus-plus arm that will play anywhere on the field and play very well.

    There’s plenty of rawness in his game, though. At the plate he’s struggled with decent offspeed stuff and at controlling the strikezone as a high schooler. There are many scouts concerned about just how much he will hit for average. On the defensive side of the ball, while he played shortstop in high school, he’s not expected to remain there. The arm will play at third base, but the question is can the glove? He needs to improve his hands to make that transition and remain on the infield. If that won’t work he could move to either spot in the corner outfield – though his arm would shine in right field.

    Quick Thoughts

    This is a big upside pick for the Reds here. In a draft that is considered rather weak, taking a guy with enormous power is a great pick in my mind. There’s all kinds of risk involved because of the questions about how much he will hit/make contact, but swinging for the fences with a guy who can hit the ball over all of the fences just makes tons of sense here.

    Doug Gray
    Doug Gray is the owner and operator of this website and has been running it since 2006 in one variation or another.

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    47 Responses

      2. I hope he’s raining balls into the Kroger bleachers someday, but I hate this delusion that you can just coach away problems with pitch recognition and hand eye coordination. Squeezing power out of a talented hitter seems like a far more common occurrence than developing an impact major league bat out of these showcase power guys.

      3. OK so we know there’s a swing and a mess. But how bad is it? Juan Dura OK so we know there’s a swing and a mess. But how bad is it? Juan Duran bad?

    3. Wow…the power is there for real for real. I Know this next comment my get some eye rolls but his swing reminds me of Bryce Harper…quick hands coming through the zone and just a different sound when he connects. I would bet his bat speed is elite.

    4. Reminds me of taking Santilla in the 2nd a few years back, though obviously different positions. Raw, high upside paired with a more solid guy in the 1st.

    5. Looks like he could outgrow shortstop as he could be built a little stockier, similar to Pedro Guerrero Jr. Funny a couple of the highlights on the video were a less than quality throw and a strike out.

    7. In the video on BA, with a wood bat, ball has a nice sound coming off of it. A certain crunch.

    8. Look, the guy is a physical specimen. His swing looks short and fast to me.

      But is he really different than Ibandel? He’s not a ss. There are real questions about 3rd. MLB.com said that looks in the outfield did not go well. The first thing everyone says is that he has huge power. The next thing is that everyone worries about his ability to make contact. I hope I am wrong, but if you have one tool, but you can’t use it, then what’s the point?

      1. Ibandel has had years to improve and hadn’t really made the jump he’d need. Picking Hinds just seems very consistent with many of the 2/3 round guys the last few years. Higher upside but raw. Santillan, Hanson, Richardson, and, as above, Franklin (who had major conditioning issues). Crap shoot type of approach but if you hit, it can play out as good or better than high floor/ low ceiling types

      2. Rob you said exactly how I feel and used the name that first game to my mind.

    9. I see why people love and hate the pick. Boom or Bust should illicit that type of divide but my thoughts are this:

      Given the way MLB FA is going you can find quality average Big leaguers more and more i.e. Scooter, Derek D., Iglesias etc…. But premium talent still costs a pretty penny which the Reds have not spent in the open market. Sooooo, a guy with this type of upside is worth the risk because the Reds won’t pay for it in the open market if he turns into a stud and if he’s average (or nothing at all) that player can be found everywhere.

    11. Four 2019 picks in this year’s BA top 30, with a fifth (Gray) traded. That’s just under one in five prospects in the top 30 after one season in rookie ball. Not bad.

      4. If you consider someone trade bait, then it was a good pick because they’ve got value in a trade. So you should actually love the drafts.

      5. I’m only going to type this once: YOU CAN’T FLIP THEM IF YOU SCREWED UP THE PICK.

        If you think they are trade bait, then they’ve got value and were a good pick. Bad picks can’t be flipped.

        Now cheer up and stop being so negative. Take a deep breath. Take twenty.

    13. I’m not sure here.. More HR power from the SS position? I really don’t see him as an everyday SS, but you never know. I’d rather have a guy with huge contact potential over raw power, but nobody has asked me to pick draft picks for the Reds recently…Well…ever actually so there is that..

      1. Peraza has huge co tact potential. He makes contact better than anyone on the team. Doesn’t always translate.

    14. Don’t mind swinging for the fences. But don’t like the sound of contact issues and pitch recognition. Just seems like that’s something you have or don’t have and it’s hard to develop if you don’t. Big power, big arm, and contact issues sounds like Aquino.

    15. Overall, I like this pick
      High upside, low floor.
      with Coaching, how knows.

      1. I agree. He does back flips ala Ozzie Smith before the game, and from a video appears to be pretty smart and mature. He is a LSU commit, so it is not a given that he will sign.

        He is no sure thing, of course, but it is probably a bit short-sighted to write him off as a power-only lug.

    17. KZ-

      Don’t you think 9 teams above the Angels are regretting not picking Jo Adell in 2017 right about now?

      Anyway, let’s hope the changes in Reds scouting personnel yield better fruit.

    18. Wow. We Reds fans gave suffered the indignities of 4 terribly losing seasons for this?? This draft is off to a very underwhelming start. In fact the 2017, 2018 and now the 2019 drafts have been very, very suspect and underwhelming.
      With the exception of 2016, the Reds have proven year after year they just are not goog at drafting players. Look at all the losing their minor league teams go through.
      A new drafting regime, but still the same underwhelming results.
      No wonder they have problems developing players. They don’t draft well to begin with.

      1. Lol I really hope this is sarcasm….”new draft regime, but still the same underwhelming results”….it is absurd to grade an mlb draft within like 5 years from the date of the draft but to already have it graded as underwhelming when we have only completed 2 rounds is absolutely insane.

      2. What the heck are you looking for from pick 49?

        We picked up the top arm on the board, and a guy with a couple of elite tools at pick 49. You can’t judge a draft until it’s been 5 years much less one day…

      3. I think 8 years from now you’ll look at 2015, 16, 17, 18 and 19 as very productive drafts for the Reds. You just have to let it play out and bet on the high end talent they’ve been selecting.

      4. And actually 4 seasons of losing is a VERY small window to try restocking like they are. Cubs, Padres, Astros and others have gone 7-12 years of terrible losing to really “get right”. The Reds, if anything, may even regret the shortening of the rebuild for this one peak season of effort for 150, Marty, Votto, etc.

    19. If all goes well, this kid is probably the type who could probably be crushing a lot of HR’s in Dayton and Billings in a year or two, which will boost his prospect value.

      Then you use that inflated value to trade him before his lack of a bat gets exposed at the higher levels of the minors.

    20. By the time he’s up the DH will probably be in the NL. I’m not too concerned about his position. He seems a bit like Wily Mo Pena to me. Hopefully he can improve his contact rate. I love the pick, high upside guys are a decent risk in the 2nd round.

    21. If Hinds hit tool is as raw as advertised, then I hope they start him in Arizona and make him prove his way up. If he has a nice month in Arizona to start, then bump him up to Greeneville. He’s a good athlete with maybe the most raw power in the draft. In the top 75 I prefer better all around players vs going after that one potentially star making tool, but if there is enough hit, then Hinds is a future cleanup hitter. If it isn’t there, then he may never see AA.

      1. I was thinking the same thing. Send him out to Arizona. Don’t rush things with such a raw player. I acknowledge that he could be special, but it is more likely that he doesn’t make it out of AA. Be patient and make sure he is competing against the appropriate level of competition.

    22. With the caveat that this comes from watching all of 30 seconds of video, all I can say is “this kid must be one hell of an athlete.” Because he’s not much of a baseball player yet. The amazing thing is that he’s spent one(?) year at IMG, doing nothing but get ready for the draft. I’d hope for a lot more polish.

    25. Most batters have a little movement in their motion before the pitch but his is up and down. It is harder to level the bat after this type movement. I hope they change him circular or back and forth.

    26. A month and a half ago I read an article projecting Hinds at #4 overall to the Marlins.

      Anybody complaining about getting this kid at 49 probably ought to just relax a little.

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