Cincinnati Reds: Two former first-round picks among Top 100 prospects

The Cincinnati Reds have seen several prospects graduate to the big leagues or traded to another team, but two pitchers remain among the MLB’s Top 100.

MLB Pipeline finally revealed their Top 100 prospects throughout all of Major League Baseball. Unsurprisingly, after many trades over the past year, the Cincinnati Reds do not have many minor leaguers among the best in the game. However, two former first-round picks found their way onto the list.

Heading into last season, Hunter Greene was No. 3 among all Cincinnati Reds prospects. The graduation of Nick Senzel to the big leagues, followed by Taylor Trammell‘s trade to the San Diego Padres, put Greene in the No. 1 slot according to MLB Pipeline. However, a severe injury halted Greene’s growth and the former first-round pick now slides back to No. 2 on the list.

There’s a new No. 1 among the Reds top prospects, and it’s last year’s first-round selection. Left-hander Nick Lodolo goes into 2020 atop Cincinnati’s farm system. The southpaw was taken with the seventh overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, and many experts feel that Lodolo will rocket through the Reds minor league system.

Lodolo ranks No. 48 on MLB Pipeline’s list of Top 100 prospects. He’s also among the Top 5 left-handed prospects in all of Major League Baseball. Lodolo, a three-year starter at Texas Christian University, was the first pitcher selected in last year’s draft. At 6’6″, Lodolo is an intimidating presence on the mound and has a lot of sink on his fastball that can reach the mid-90s.

Lodolo pitched in just eight games for the Reds organization last season after playing the entire college season pitching for the Horned Frogs. In three seasons at TCU, the lefty went 18-11 with a 3.55 ERA. In eight games spent between Billings and Dayton, Nick Lodolo went 18.1 innings and put up a 2.45 ERA while striking out 30 batters.

Hunter Greene, on the other hand, spent the entire 2019 season on the sideline after undergoing Tommy John surgery. The power-throwing right-hander is expected to make a full recovery, and fans could see Greene on the field as soon as late spring/ early summer. The 20-year-old last pitched for Single-A Dayton in 2018, going 3-7 with a 4.48 ERA.

With the likes of Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray, and Trevor Bauer slated to take the hill for the Cincinnati Reds this season, there’s no need to rush Nick Lodolo or Hunter Greene to the big leagues. In fact, MLB Pipeline predicts that Lodolo will need at least another year before he’s ready to make the jump. Greene may have to wait until 2022.