Cincinnati Reds have two elite prospects in Nick Senzel and Tyler Mahle

The Cincinnati Reds have a plethora of young players and good prospects, but two stand out from the crowd.

The Cincinnati Reds have a pair of elite prospects in Nick Senzel and Tyler Mahle.  2017’s top draft pick Hunter Greene may get more press and Robert Stephenson may be more of a disappointment, but Mahle and Senzel lead the class.  Luis Castillo is good, but has moved on from the label of a prospect.

The Reds drafted Senzel second overall in the 2016 MLB amateur draft.  He played his college ball at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.  His senior year at UT he led the SEC in doubles with 25.

In two minor league seasons Senzel has dominated the minor leagues.  He has already moved up from rookie ball to Double-A.  Next spring he will like start in Triple-A Louisville.

In 187 games over the two seasons Senzel has made 797 plates appearances including 698 at-bats.  This season, Senzel played in 119 games collecting 507 plate appearances.  He has struck out a combined 151 times in those two seasons.

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The impressive number here is .393.  That is Senzel’s combined OBP for the last two seasons.  He also has a OPS of .908 despite hitting only 21 home runs in his first two seasons as a professional.

Tyler Mahle is a step ahead of Nick Senzel for the Cincinnati Reds, making his MLB debut in 2017.

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In his first four MLB starts Mahle has gone 1-2.  He collected an ERA of 2.70, but had the high WHIP of 1.50.  Over 20 innings, Mahle surrendered eleven walks.

He also struck out 14.  The nineteen hits he allowed resulted in a  batting average against of .253.  His WHIP is high, but the rest of his MLB numbers look repeatable.

Over two minor league stops in 2017, Mahle made 24 starts.  He went 10-7 over 144 1/3 innings.  He struck out 138, while walking 30.

To go along with the low walk rate, Mahle had only a .208 batting average against, resulting in a minuscule WHIP of 0.96.

Over the course of his minor league career Mahle has an ERA of 2.85 and a WHIP of 1.11.  He has pitched 558 innings going 43-28.  He also 515 strikeouts to round out a solid minor league career.

Next: At least two Reds made it to the World Series

Both Mahle and Senzel are ready to come to Cincinnati to stay.  Mahle already looks like a fixture in next year’s rotation and Senzel is a shoo-in for a spring training invite.  All the Reds need to do now is to surround their elite prospects with enough talent to be competitive.