Four Cincinnati Reds prospects listed among ESPN’s Top 100 overall
And they aren’t who you think!
ESPN.com’s Kiley McDaniel revealed his latest Top 100 overall prospect list earlier on Wednesday, and the Cincinnati Reds were represented by four farmhands. The thing is, it wasn’t a group of four that I think many of us expected to see.
We’ve seen Chase Burns and Rhett Lowder listed almost interchangeably atop the team’s farm system rankings, the pair of Wake Forest arms universally considered the two best-rated prospects the club can boast. That’s no different from McDaniel. However, it’s been some combination of Cam Collier, Sal Stewart, and Edwin Arroyo rounding out the back end of many Top 100 rankings, something largely echoed by our own Community Prospect Rankings.
Not so with McDaniel. While Burns (#36) and Lowder (#39) led the pack, both Chase Petty (#76) and Alfredo Duno (#83) made the cut, with none of Collier, Stewart, or Arroyo making this particular list at all.
While the lack of endorsement of that latter trio is a bit concerning, the larger picture shows that the Reds now have seven farmhands who were listed on at least one major Top 100 overall list this winter, and that’s an indication that there may well be more quality depth on the farm right now than many thought.
Congrats to Rhett, Alfredo, & the Chases!