Disrespected Reds prospect is silencing the critics after power-packed performance

The Cincinnati Reds saw so many prospects graduate to the big leagues in 2023 that it's almost unfathomable to believe that another cadre of talented young players are on their way to The Show in the very near future.

But the reality is that Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain, Spencer Steer, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Noelvi Marte, and Andrew Abbott were the just the first wave of young talent. The Reds still have players like Rhett Lowder, Connor Phillips, Chase Petty, and Sal Stewart readying to make their major league debut sooner rather than later.

But Cam Collier has been on the receiving end of a lot of criticism from various scouting outlets. Collier is no longer among the Top 100 prospects according to MLB Pipeline, but was seen as the 69th-best prospect just last year. FanGraphs doesn't even consider Collier a top-15 prospect in the Reds farm system.

This Reds prospect Cam Collier is silencing all the critics after power-packed performance

But Collier is doing his best to silence all the doubters and critics this season. The 19-year-old let his bat do the talking on Thursday night in Dayton. In the first inning, Collier launched a 0-1 pitch over the right field wall at Day Air Ballpark for his fourth home run on of the young season. The ball came off Collier's bat at 107 mph.

But Collier wasn't done. In the bottom of the fifth inning, with the Dayton Dragons trailing the Fort Wayne TinCaps 4-2, the Reds prospect walloped his second homer of the ball game that travelled over 400 feet.

Collier was one of the top prospects available during the 2022 MLB Draft, and inexplicably fell to the Reds who picked 18th that year. Collier was in the same draft class with Jackson Holliday, Termarr Johnson, and Druw Jones.

Though Holliday made his major league debut this season, the son of former Cardinals' great Matt Holliday is almost a full year older than Collier. Jones began the 2024 season at Low-A Visalia while Johnson is off to a slow start at High-A Greensboro.

Collier was a consensus Top 100 prospect last season, but a down-year in 2023, while he was facing much older competition, soured several scouts' opinions of the young Reds prospect. If Collier keeps hitting like he has to begin the 2024 season (1.014 OPS), then a lot of those talent evaluators will have some apologizing to do later this season.

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