Cincinnati Reds’ prospect Blake Trahan tries to make the jump from Single-A to starting MLB shortstop

Blake Trahan looks to jump the queue and get to the head of the Cincinnati Reds’ organizational depth chart this spring.

Blake Trahan heads into his first official Cincinnati Reds’ training camp with lofty plans in mind.  Trahan batted .429 in limited appearances during spring training games last year.  He was not officially in big league camp, but he did play in a handful of big league spring training games.

Last year, Trahan spent the entire in season in Single-A.  He batted .265 with an OBP of .325 over 131 games played.  It was his first year in high A ball and he tried to swing for the fences too much early in the season.

Trahan is the organization’s 20th ranked prospect and tried to carry his team early last season.  That is difficult in baseball and usually results in a bad outcome.  He only batted .128 in April games.  Moving to 2017, he already secured the starting shortstop position at Double-A Pensacola, but is watching the situation in Cincinnati.

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Trahan was able to experience Reds Country first hand as he was the minor leaguer on his leg of the Reds Caravan.  Much like current Reds’ shortstop Zack Cozart, Trahan is a defensive player first.  He only hit four home runs all of last year.

The Cincinnati Reds have a handful of players ahead of Blake Trahan on the organizational chart.

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The Reds have made no secret of the fact that they plan on trading Cozart at some point during the season and that doesn’t bother him.  In the mean time, the Reds seem committed to playing Cozart every day to showcase his defense and health.  It would likely take a trade or injury before the season for BlakeTrahan to have a chance at beating out Cozart.

The current heir apparent at short is Jose Peraza who came over last off-season.  He showed some flashes of offense in the second half of the 2016 season.  Unfortunately, he looked more ready to play second than short.

The largest hurdle for Trahan to overcome besides himself is probably Zach Vincej.  If Cozart is injured and Peraza is found to be defensive lacking, then Vincej would still be blocking Trahan.  He is also a defensive specialist, who had a great fall league in Arizona.

In order for Trahan to have a shot, he would need to be tearing the cover off of the ball.  Either that or have an OBP of well over .400.  That is a high order for someone who played in A-ball last year.  He also needs to be the best defensive player at short this spring.  In four games so far this spring he is batting .571.

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The chances are that Trahan will start the season at Double-A.  Hopes springs eternal, though.  Reds fans can begin to see that their will be prospects trying to step up to the big leagues over the next few springs.