Kiley McDaniel of ESPN has updated his 2025 Major League Baseball Top 50 Prospects list today and the Cincinnati Reds have four players on the list (which is free to read). After about eight weeks of the season there isn’t a ton of movement, but there has been some thanks to some players graduating their prospect status as well as some guys clearly taking steps in one direction or the other. But for Cincinnati there was some big movement in the rankings.
With regards to the Cincinnati Reds, Chase Burns has made a big jump up the list. 2024’s #2 overall draft pick entered the season as the #36 prospect on ESPN’s list, but after a dominant start to the 2025 season he’s up to #12 on the list. That’s good enough to be the second highest rated pitcher in the minor leagues (there are only two pitchers in the top 22 on this list).
After starting the season in High-A Dayton he moved up to Chattanooga after three starts and now have five under his belt in Double-A with the Lookouts. Last night saw him fire off 5.0 innings of 1-run baseball and he’s now rocking a 2.27 ERA in 35.2 innings pitched between the two levels where he’s given up just 23 hits, walked just eight batters, and he’s now struck out 55 of the 133 hitters he’s faced (41.4% strikeout rate).
The other three Reds prospects that made the list are all bunched together in the 40’s. Catcher Alfredo Duno and pitchers Rhett Lowder and Chase Petty are all rated between #43 and #49 on the list. Duno is up 40 spots on the list from the preseason ranking, while Petty jumped 28 spots. Lowder, who has been injured all season but is now on the rehab trail in the minor leagues, has dropped 10 spots.
Alfredo Duno is back in Daytona against this year and an injury cost him most of the 2024 season. So far this season he’s hitting .238/.355/.444, with an OPS+ of 122. His walk rate is nearly identical to where it was last year, but he’s been making quite a bit more contact in 2025 than he had last season and he’s also hitting for more power.
For Chase Petty if you only look at his minor league performance it’s easy to see why he’s moved up the list. The 22-year-old has a 2.79 ERA in six starts in Triple-A with 12 walks and 35 strikeouts in 29.0 innings. And the stuff backs up those numbers. His two outings in the big leagues haven’t gone nearly as well as his command and control have cost him quite a bit.