2025 Community Prospect Rankings: Sal Stewart is the Reds #6 prospect!

With the best eye at the plate in the entire Reds system, Sal Stewart might hit his way to Cincinnati as early as this fall.

The more I dig, the more I am confused as to why Sal Stewart hasn’t been ranked higher by most prospect evaluators.

He was Perfect Game’s under-14 Player of the Year in 2018 while starring for the US Elite team in their events. Perfect Game stuck with their endorsement as he progressed through high school, eventually ranking him as the #28 overall prospect in the 2022 class, the 4th best 3B prospect in the class, and the #1 ranked 3B prospect in the prospect-rich state of Florida that year.

He committed to powerhouse Vanderbilt that fall, who was fresh off College World Series titles in 2014 and 2019 (with runner-up finishes in 2015 and 2021), though the Cincinnati Reds plucked him at the end of the 1st round of the 2022 MLB Draft and enticed him to turn pro.

Since becoming a professional, he’s done nothing but hit. He’s the owner of a .394 OBP across 884 PA with as many walks (138) as Ks (139), with a 144 wRC+ in his 80 games of work at A+ Dayton last year.

He’s the best offensive prospect in the Cincinnati system right now, in my opinion, with enough glovework to potentially play 3B, 2B, or a corner OF spot. If I were a betting man, I’d bet on Sal to make a big, big leap up prospect ranking lists in 2025 as he takes on AA pitching for the first time.

He’s the #6 prospect in this year’s Community Prospect Rankings. On to the voting for spot #7!

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Alfredo Duno, C/DH - 19 years old

2024 at a glance: .267/.367/.422 with 3 HR, 2 SB in 139 PA with Daytona Tortugas (Class A Florida State League)

Pros: Plus arm and agility at the catching position paired with plus raw power and elite bat speed

Cons: We’ve still barely seen him play, let alone catch (just 21 G as a C in his pair of pro seasons within the Reds organization)

A rib issue cut short Duno’s first full season of pro ball in 2024, though he flashed precisely what the scouting report suggested in his limited time with the Tortugas: an advanced offensive approach, some big projectible pop, and athleticism behind the dish.

I’d like to think that over 100 or so games with Dayton in 2025, the world would see enough of that to be convinced he’s the heir apparent to the Cincinnati catching position, and a clear-cut Top 100 overall prospect. Of course, he’s so far 0 for 2 in staying healthy enough to show that to the world, so we’ll have to hope he bats .333 in that category by season’s end.

Sammy Stafura, SS - 20 years old

2024 at a glance: .270/.387/.412 with 8 HR, 31 SB in 421 PA split between ACL Reds (Arizona Complex League) and Daytona Tortugas (Class A Florida State League); named Reds Minor League Hitter of the Year

Pros: 65 grade speed and plus baserunning acumen; 15.2% walk rate evidence of great patience and eye at the plate; plus defender who profiles as capable of sticking at short

Cons: In-game power hasn’t showed up just yet, though he spent the bulk of his year in the pitcher-friendly Florida State League (where he had a .124 ISO and .379 SLG)

You don’t have to squint too hard to see in Stafura a guy who hits leadoff for the Cincinnati Reds for a long time. He gets on base, he swipes bases, and so far looks very much the part of an up-the-middle piece that was well worth the ~$2.5 million signing bonus he got to skip Clemson University and sign with the Reds as a 2nd round pick in 2023.

There’s truly a chance we’ve not even scratched the surface with him yet, either. Drafted out of New York, he’s one of those classic ‘high schoolers from cold weather’ whose stats before being drafted don’t typically show what he’s truly capable of doing, and his lone ‘full’ season in 2024 featured the suppressive offensive environment that is the FSL. If he gets to Dayton and the power emerges, we’re looking at a guy with a Sal Stewart-esque approach at the plate who can also be a plus shortstop.

And he just turned 20!

Tyson Lewis, SS - 19 years old

2024 at a glance: Hit .496 with 8 dingers and 14 doubles in 38 games for Millard West High School in Omaha, NE; drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2nd round of the 2024 MLB Draft; signed for an above-slot $3.05 million to turn pro in lieu of attending the University of Arkansas

Pros: Well rounded athlete with 60-grade speed and potential for good power from the left side of the plate

Cons: Defense is solid, yet not spectacular at SS, and it’s likely he ends up moved off the position; not exactly from a baseball hotbed

Tyson Lewis has above-average ability across the board, and if you squint you can see a potential five-tool guy. Right now, it’s more that he’s something of a B+ student in all five tools instead of a guy who’s got two A’s and a trio of Cs.

That can be a good thing! It’s just that we need to see how it translates level by level, since it doesn’t appear he’s shown anything yet that has people already convinced one particular skill is way beyond his level.

He’s just 19, of course, and there’s ample opportunity for that to be shown, he’s just not yet played a professional game since being drafted. So, Lewis gets to play the role of mystery team in this year’s CPR - let’s see who among us is already convinced!

Ricardo Cabrera, SS/3B - 20 years old

2024 at a glance: .253/.331/399 with 11 HR, 19 SB in 456 PA with the Daytona Tortugas (Class A Florida State League)

Pros: 60 grade arm (rated as Best Infield Arm in the Reds system by Baseball America); advanced hitting approach with developing power

Cons: Defense is iffy at SS, and he may already be a permanent 3B already

The Reds swung big to sign Cabrera in the 2022 international signing period, doling out $2.7 million to get the deal done. At the time, he was touted as a guy whose bat did a lot of loud talking, and that’s largely been the case ever since he made his pro debut in the states.

His surface numbers above seem slight, but that’s taken with a giant grain of salt given that he spent the entire year plying his trade in the extremely pitcher-friendly environment that is the Florida State League. All told, that .730 OPS equated to a 111 wRC+, or 11% better than league average - and he did that at age 19, or 1.9 years younger than league average.

His 6.8% walk rate needs to improve, but he’s a hitter whose strikeout rate so far rates better than average, too. In other words, overall selectivity is what he needs to work on, as he’s taking a lot of swings. If he refines that, though, he sports the kind of bat that should play plenty well at 3B, which is where he moved to primarily in 2024 and is likely to remain.

Connor Phillips, RHP - 24 years old

2024 at a glance:

Pros: Fastball that can touch 100 mph; potential plus curveball and slider

Cons: Finding the strikezone has been, at times, impossible for Phillips

Phillips was shelled for 15 dingers and 64 ER across 57.0 IP for AAA Louisville to begin the 2024 season, a 14 game stretch that produced numbers as bad as I’ve seen for any pitcher at any level in a long, long time.

Frankly, that’s because pitchers performing that poorly don’t usually keep getting that many opportunities. In Connor Phillips, though, the Reds know there’s something better in there somewhere, and they’re going to exhaust every last way of allowing him to rediscover that. They shipped him to their complex in Arizona to do side work for some two months after that disastrous start, and when he returned to the Bats he pitched to a tidy 2.49 ERA with a 24/10 K/BB in 21.1 IP across 5 games. He backed that up with a solid, if unspectacular 19.1 IP in Arizona Fall League work, and mostly looked more like the guy who cracked Top 100 overall lists before the season began.

Look, there’s ample evidence out there for you to believe he’ll never cut it as a big league starter and that his inability to throw strikes will continue to plague him. There’s also enough talent (and spurty performance) to allow you to think he’s the best pitcher in the entire system if you catch him on the right day. So, I’ve added him to the mix here earlier than you might have expected to see just how many of you are still on the optimistic side with him.