Reds Draft: 3 prep position players Cincinnati should target in Round 1

3. The Reds could select the power-hitting Joshua Baez.

Joshua Baez has the type of power that makes major league scouts salivate. Baez is one of the youngest players in the 2021 MLB Draft having just turned 18 years old in late June. Like a good majority of power-hitting high school players, there’s a lot of swing and miss in Baez’s bat, but there’s a ton of round trippers in there as well.

Baez is committed to play for Vanderbilt University, but it’s a good bet that a first-round selection and compensation could sway Baez away from the Commodores. The right-handed hitting Massachusetts high school product can drive the ball to all fields and oftentimes, over the fence.

Baez has a 97-MPH fastball as well, but his position is most likely going to be center field when he reaches the professional leagues, though a lack of elite speed might transform the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Baez into a corner outfielder. With that cannon for an arm, Baez could find a home in right field.

Will Taylor of Dutch Fork High School in South Carolina is another prep prospect to keep an eye on, but he doesn’t possess near the power that Baez has, relying more on his elite speed. However, Taylor is a multi-sport athlete who’s slated to attend Clemson in the fall and may not be fully committed to baseball.

If the Cincinnati Reds are looking for the type of player similar to Austin Hendrick, whom the team elected to take in the first round last year, then Joshua Baez is the guy. The Reds will have plenty of prep players to scout prior to the 2021 MLB Draft, but Baez, Joe Mack, and Benny Montgomery would all look pretty sweet in a Cincinnati Reds uniform.