Top Reds prospects shift in latest MLB.com Top 100
When MLB.com’s top 100 prospect list was released last January, the Cincinnati Reds had three of their hottest up-and-comers named to the list. Thursday night, the 2014 edition of the prospect watch was released on MLB Network, with the Reds sending just two to the top 100 this season.
Pitcher Robert Stephenson unseated outfielder Billy Hamilton for the top spot in the Cincinnati organization, coming in at 19th this season. Hamilton’s ranking fell from 11 in 2013 to 37 this year, but he still figures to be the Reds’ odds-on favorite to claim the starting center field job in Spring Training. Cincinnati General Manager Walt Jocketty addressed Hamilton’s status at this week’s Reds Caravan stop in Louisville, saying, “in a perfect world, Billy Hamilton will be the starting center fielder in Cincinnati.”
As for Stephenson, his stock rose considerably in the latest rankings. Coming in at a modest 51st ahead of last season, the Reds’ top prospect will enter this season as the 19th best prospect in baseball. He also figures to be a factor for the Louisville Bats this year after finishing the 2013 campaign with Double-A Pensacola. Considering his meteoric rise through the Cincinnati farm system in 2013, he could start the season on the door step of the Major Leagues in April.
Stephenson is just the latest in a long line of quality starting pitching developed on the farm in the Reds’ organization. Tony Cingrani, who started last season in Louisville for a brief stint before heading to Cincinnati due to an early injury to Johnny Cueto, was the 66th-best prospect on the 2013 list. He hasn’t fallen off the list, but is rather considered a “graduate” by MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo.
Both Hamilton and Stephenson figure into the Major League plan for the Reds in the near future, which raises the question of who may follow them in the top prospect category. Some names that could rise with strong showings in 2014 include Nick Travieso and Phil Ervin, who finished 2013 at numbers three and four respectively on the list of top Cincinnati prospects.
Travieso, a 19-year-old pitcher who was the Reds’ top selection in the 2012 draft, spent last season with Single-A Dayton. As a Dragon, he posted a 7–4 record with a 4.63 ERA and a K/BB ratio of 2.26. Scouts give Travieso an above average Major League projection and rate his fastball as his only plus pitch; a similar profile to Cingrani’s a season ago. Because of his youth, the right-hander probably won’t be rushed through the minor league chain, and his next probable step will be Advanced-A Bakersfield in 2014.
In last year’s MLB Draft, the Reds tabbed Ervin of Samford University as their top selection, and the 21-year-old outfielder didn’t waste time acclimating himself to the next level. Perhaps it was his college experience that benefitted him most in his first professional season, as he hit a combined .331 with nine home runs and 35 RBIs in action with the Billings Mustangs (Rookie) and Dayton Dragons (Class-A). Time will tell where Ervin will begin his 2014 season, but he may be the name to rise fastest over the course of the year if his first pro season is any indication.
Together, Travieso and Ervin are poised to take over on the mound and in the outfield as Hamilton and Stephenson are next in line to become polished graduates of the Reds’ minor league system. For the Bats, that will mean another round of exciting young talent gracing the diamond at Louisville Slugger Field.
