Cincinnati Reds’ top prospects fill the rosters of the lower minor league affiliates

To start the 2017 season most of the Cincinnati Reds’ top 30 prospects will be in Double-A or below.

The Double-A team for the Cincinnati Reds in Pensacola, Florida, should have a great season.  There are nine of the Reds’ 30 top prospects all on that one team.  Four of those nine are position players and the rest are pitchers.  None is a top five prospect.

The highest ranked prospect in Pensacola is Luis Castillo.  He was the primary returned in the deal with the Miami Marlins for Dan Straily.  Castillo was so good in spring the Reds considered keeping him on the active roster.

The Blue Wahoos also have Tyler Mahle, Ariel Hernandez, Jimmy Herget, and Keury Mella.  Mella was the other piece that came over from the San Francisco Giants for Mike Leake with left fielder Adam Duvall.  Mahle is the next highest rated prospect at 10 behind Castillo.

The top position player on the Blue Wahoos is 2016 Reds’ minor leaguer of the year, Aristides Aquino.  Aquino led all minor leaguers in the Reds’ system with 23 home runs.  He also had an OPS of .846 in the Florida State League.

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The other position players in Pensacola on the top 30 prospect list are Alex Blandino, Carlton Daal, and Blake Trahan.  It will be interesting to see whether Daal stays with the team long as Trahan is the everyday shortstop.  Blandino will be fighting former San Diego Padre farm hand Johnny Van Meter for the second base job.

The other 21 top 30 prospects for the Cincinnati Reds are spread out among the other teams, including the MLB one itself.

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Four of the top 30 prospects are on the Reds currently.  Rookie Davis and number two prospect Amir Garrett are in the rotation.  Robert Stephenson is in the bullpen, while Austin Brice is on the big league DL.

Four more are in Louisville including the most ready positional prospect, Jesse Winker.  Phil Ervin and Sebastian Elizalde, who barely made the list, are also outfielders for the Bats.  Sal Romano is in the rotation for Louisville, too.

Advanced-A in Daytona has seven of the prospects, too.  Most importantly, that is where top prospect Nick Senzel will start his season.  He wanted to be in Cincinnati by September, but coming from High-A to the MLB will be more than a little difficult.

Next: The Reds are going to use four closers - or maybe just Raisel

The Reds are still two years away because their best players are still two years away.  That doesn’t mean that this season and next won’t be worth watching.  It just means that help is just over the horizon.