Chase Burns atop newest Reds prospect rankings while former top-100 player tumbles

MLB Pipeline's latest rerankings of Major League Baseball's top farm systems saw a new young Cincinnati Reds player as the head of the class. One of the newest Reds prospects, Chase Burns, ranks No. 1 in Cincinnati's farm system.

Burns was the Reds' top pick in this year's draft. While a number of Reds fans had hoped to see Charlie Condon go to Cincinnati with the second-overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, Nick Krall and Co. chose Burns. The Wake Forest product will begin his professional career next season.

Chase Burns, Rhett Lowder & Sal Stewart among Reds top prospects

But the Reds had a number of other players ranked among the top-100 prospects as well. Fellow Wake Forest alum Rhett Lowder, injured shortstop Edwin Arroyo, and up-and-coming infielder Sal Stewart all rank among the best prospects in baseball.

All-Star Futures Game MVP Cam Collier ranks No. 5 in the Reds' farm system, and is just outside the top-100 overall. But another former top-100 prospect tumbled down the rerankings after a horrific 2024 campaign thus far.

Reds prospect Connor Phillips has endured an awful showing

Connor Phillips, who was in the mix to be part of the Reds' starting rotation this spring, has taken a major step backward this season. As such, Phillips has fallen out of the top-5 all the way down to No. 16 in the organization. Phillips' 2024 performance has been so bad that the Reds were forced to move the right-hander from Triple-A back to the team's training complex in Arizona. Phillips hasn't pitched in a game since June 19th.

Many Reds fans will remember Phillips as the player to be named later in the trade with the Seattle Mariners that sent Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez to the Pacific Northwest in 2022. Jake Fraley, Brandon Williamson, and former pitcher Justin Dunn were also part of that deal.

The Reds haven't given up on Phillips, and many believe that his stuff will play at the major league level. Consistency and control have evaded Phillips throughout most of his professional career, leading many scouts to see the 23-year-old's future as a reliever rather than a starter.

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