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    Cincinnati Reds #25 Prospect: Ethan O’Donnell – Outfielder

    Doug Gray 9

    The Cincinnati Reds drafted Ethan O’Donnell in the 6th round of the 2023 draft out of Virginia. Following the draft he played in 27 games, with 23 of them coming in Single-A Daytona. Between his short time in Arizona and then in Daytona he hit well, putting up an OPS of 1.047.

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    When the 2024 season began the Cincinnati Reds sent Ethan O’Donnell to join the Dayton Dragons outfield. After going 0-3 in his season debut he could come back the next day and pick up his first hit and add a walk. The following game he picked up two more hits, another walk, and one of his hits was a double. But the hits stopped showing up from there as he went 6-33 the rest of April (.182) and had no extra-base hits. O’Donnell did walk more often than he struck out during that time, helping him post a .372 on-base percentage in the final three weeks of the month.

    In his first start in May, which came a week after his last start in April (he appeared in two games during that week but he was a pinch runner in both of those games as he dealt with a shoulder issue) he went 2-5 with his first home run of the year. His playing time was limited after that for the following two weeks, too – playing every couple of days. From May 8th through the 22nd he went 3-20 while playing in just seven games. But on May 24th he returned to the lineup and began to play every day again and finished out the month going 7-22 with a .969 OPS.

    That hot hitting didn’t quite carry over into June. While the outfielder hit .306 in the first 10 games of the month he only walked twice and only had one extra-base hit. Things went south from there and in a big way. Over the next month-and-a-half he hit just .145/.260/.241 while striking out 30% of the time he stepped to the plate.

    On July 27th he broke out of the slump by going 1-4 with a double against Fort Wayne. From that point through the end of the year he caught fire. Over the final 40 games of the year – including two playoff games – he hit .352/.405/.556 and stole 13 bases in 15 tries.

    For all 2024 Season Reviews and Scouting Reports – click here (these will come out during the week throughout the offseason).

    Ethan O’Donnell Scouting Report

    Position: Outfield | B/T: L/R

    Height: 6′ 0″ | Weight: 190 lbs. | Acquired: 6th Round (2023 Draft)| Born: March 27, 2002

    In the 2024 season we saw the highs and the lows from Ethan O’Donnell. How much of those lows were due to him dealing with injuries during the season is a bit unknown, but for much of the year he was not exactly 100%. For the final two months of the season, he crushed the ball and showed his upside.

    At the plate, O’Donnell can and does use the entire field. He can use his above-average speed combined with his ability to bunt to boost his offensive profile – he was able to turn 21 bunts in 2024 into 15 hits. On top of those 15 bunt hits, he also had another 10 infield singles.His power is mostly to the pull side and he’s got fringy raw power, but there could be enough in there to project double-digit home runs.

    His speed is an asset on the bases, where he went 31-for-36 in stolen base attempts in 2024 in his 104 games played. But he can also use it well on defense. While he isn’t a burner and his speed is fringy for center, he takes good routes and gets good reads which allows him to be plenty capable of handling center field. He does profile a little better in the corners and there’s enough arm there for right field, though it won’t stand out.

    The upside is there for Ethan O’Donnell to be an every day center fielder if he can get the most out of his bat – which likely means cutting down on his strikeout rate a little bit from where it was in 2024. There’s not exactly a single standout skill that he has besides bunting, but his tools are all fringe-average or a little better. If he can’t max things out at the plate, he’s still got a chance to be a well-rounded 4th or 5th outfielder who can provide various skills off of the bench.

    Stats

    Spray Chart

    Video

    Interesting Stat on Ethan O’Donnell

    In games played on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday he hit .205/.299/.299 (136 plate appearances). In games that were played the other four days of the week he hit .299/.387/.471 (279 plate appearances).

    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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    9 Responses

    2. Unless I saw the absolute best throw of his life, I think you are underselling O’Donnell’s arm strength a bit. I’ve talked about it a lot on here before, but only because it stood out to me so much. Ranged about 50 feet into the right field corner with a runner on 2B, made the catch clean and threw a rope that hit the SS cutoff man without him needing to take a step. A throw so clean the guy on 2B didn’t even make it more than a few steps after tagging up before retreating.

      Even when O’Donnell was struggling early in the season he passed the eye test. Could just tell that he was an all around ball player. I’d like to see him get a little more opportunity in CF. With Sirota gone, maybe keep Jorge back in Dayton so there are more CF reps to go around.

      There must have been something in the water in August, Ethan O’Donnell had a 1.076 OPS, Cam Collier 1.157, John Michael Faile .993, Leo Balcazar .900, Carlos Jorge .782 (season best). Just imagine if Sal Stewart had been healthy as well. He was having his best month in July (.899 OPS) before he got hurt.

    3. I see Ethan O’Donnell as a probable replacement for TJ Friedl in next two years if he can hit well at the upper farm system levels…

    4. We got a lot of fringy, 4th, or 5th type outfield prospects. Some maybe even could take a starters role. What we don’t have is a top prospect that’s going to elevate our outfield.

      I’m telling you we need to put some of our best infield prospects into the OF or we are going to continue to have a weak outfield.

      1. Outfield isn’t all that hard to learn for a player who has regularly played shortstop his entire life.

      2. At some point we need to draft some kids that can just rake with power and worry about the position later. Even if they are going to end up as a 1B/DH. You can argue they did that with Cam Collier, just wish he’d be a little more consistent.

        1. Duke – Collier has been incredibly consistent over the 2 full seasons, AND increased his power output. Also believe he’s had minor injuries cutting into his time. Finally, the underlying stats continue to show a top prospect most national folks have ignored after the initial post-draft rankings.

          I look forward to a big move this season, especially if he’s healthy the first few months.

          Still think he’s on track for a cup of coffee late next season, but who knows – big AA showings can accelerate moves up the ladder.

          Same for Stewart, but he’s just missed more time with injury.

          Collier just over 1,000 PAs, Stewart near 900, so they’re each moving into valid sample size territory. If either is near a 300/375/500 stat line at mid-season, they’ll be in the top-50 rankings.

        2. Hard to say he’s overly consistent with 3 for 52 slumps and a sub .250 career batting average.

        3. I’m looking at the full 2 seasons, and Daytona as a pitchers league. The underlying stats are very good, particularly the BB/K%, and even moreso for Stewart. I’d discount the slumps especially if there were any adjustments in there – stance change, focus on particular pitch, etc.. With 2 full seasons he’s set a good baseline. Many have noted that AA is the make-or-break level, and he could plateau, but any uptick and good health should have him back in the top-50 lists.

          Stewart is very similar, and though he’s a bit unheralded, Hector has even better lines.

          So many of these guys are heading to AA it could completely flip the results from last season, and they could benefit from following each in the lineup. With good health one or two of them could excel and echo Dunn’s numbers from 2 years ago.

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