1 underrated Reds prospect at each minor league level who'll excel in 2023

Reds prospects: Jose Acuna could excel at High-A Dayton

Jose Acuna was acquired from the New York Mets last summer in the trade that sent Tyler Naquin to the Big Apple. For the moment, you'd have to consider that a victory for Nick Krall and the Cincinnati Reds.

Naquin greatly underperformed for the playoff-bound Mets, while the two prospects that Cincinnati received in returned had productive seasons over the final few weeks of 2022. In addition to Acuna, the Reds also secured the services of outfield prospect Hector Rodriguez.

While Rodriguez will begin his 2023 campaign at Low-A Daytona, Acuna will start his season at High-A Dayton. Acuna was at A-Ball when the Reds swung the trade for the right-hander last summer and then sent him to Low-A Daytona to close out his 2022 season.

In 31 innings pitched for the Daytona Tortugas, Acuna recorded 35 punch outs and walked just 10 of the 123 batters he faced. Acuna's strikeout-rate of 28.5-percent is very good, but that walk-rate of only 8.1-percent is even better.

Oftentimes, it's not velocity of strikeouts that are the problems young pitchers face, but it's command and control. Jose Acuna had a 3.14 according to FanGraphs, and if he continues to keep his walks in check, it won't be long before fans start taking notice of one of the better young pitcher in the Reds organization. Acuna is only 20 years old.