Keep that in mind when looking at the movement of players on the list – it’s not necessarily as big of a climb over others as it may seem since some players aren’t eligible now who were two months ago.
With all of that said, the Reds top prospect remains the same guy here. Noelvi Marte, who was at #35 in the spring, is now up to #23. He has moved up 12 spots despite being suspended for a failed PED test and having not have played a game yet this year. He will be eligible to return on June 27th. And he’s eligible to start playing in minor league games on a “rehab” assignment 20 days prior to he’s eligible to return to the big leagues.
Depending on which level you choose to look at, the minor league baseball season lasts between seven and eight weeks (Triple-A started before everyone else). And with that, Kiley McDaniel of ESPN revised his list of the top 50 baseball prospects. He also included five “just missed” hitters and five pitchers. Three players from the Cincinnati Reds made the Top 50, while one player made the just missed category.
Twelve players who were ranked in the top 50 at the beginning of the year have lost their prospect status and are therefore ineligible for the ranking. Five additional players who were ranked between 51 and 100 on McDaniel’s preseason roster were likewise disqualified from the list.
Sal Stewart, a prospect from Cincinnati who shot up the list significantly, was the next player on the list. This year, the infielder has played all of his games for the High-A Dayton Dragons. He is batting through the first 37 games of the season.In 156 plate appearances, he is 283/.410/.425 with 10 doubles, a triple, two home runs, 27 walks, and 26 strikeouts. He alternates between second and third base, and this season he has made just one mistake. He was moved up from #71 to #31 on the list by McDaniel. That is far higher than Stewart’s ranking from a month ago, when Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen placed Stewart 35th in the REDS hierarchy…
Rhett Lowder was the final Reds prospect to rank #1 on the ESPN list. The first-round choice of Cincinnati from last summer started the season in Dayton, but two weeks ago, he was sent up to Double-A Chattanooga, where he will make his third start of the season tonight against the Lookouts. According to McDaniel, he was the 65th top prospect in the game coming into the season.
On ESPN’s list of prospects, Chase Petty was ranked #70 at the start of the season. Out of the five pitchers, he was in the “Just Missed” area. So far, he has been a part of Chattanooga. He had a rough start to April, but so far in May, he has been outstanding.I looked at his last two starts last week and wrote about how good he looked playing twice in one week against Birmingham.
