3 Reds prospects who could make the leap from High-A to the major leagues in 2024

At this time last year, infielder Noelvi Marte was wrapping up his minor league campaign with High-A Dayton. A year later, the Cincinnati Reds top prospect is enjoying the spoils of his hard work after making his major league debut this season.

The Dayton Dragons just wrapped up their third consecutive winning season on Sunday, and the crop of young Reds prospects will head into the offseason with players like Marte, Carson Spiers, and Lyon Richardson as examples of players who made the leap from High-A to the majors in just one season.

The Reds farm system is loaded with talent, and many of their top young players are part of the Dragons roster. Which three Cincinnati Reds prospects could make the jump from High-A to The Show in 2024?

1. Reds prospect Zach Maxwell could leap from High-A to the major leagues in 2024.

Zach Maxwell is a name that most Cincinnati Reds fans haven't heard, but you will. The 6-foot-6 hurler out of Georgia Tech is a hard-throwing right-hander that could very well rocket up through the Reds farm system next season.

Maxwell has a heater that sits in the upper-90s and can touch 101 mph. Much like former Reds prospect Joe Boyle, Maxwell has an imposing persence on the mound and a fastball that he can blow by the opposition.

But, just like the aforementioned Boyle, Maxwell has some command issues. While his 36.6-percent strikeout at High-A Dayton is very impressive, Maxwell's 13.4-percent walk-rate is just as concerning. According to FanGraphs, Maxwell was striking out 14.38 batters per nine innings pitched, but he was also walking 5.28.

But Zach Maxwell was just drafted a year ago. The right-hander was selected in Round 6 of the 2022 MLB Draft and recorded multiple punch outs in all but one of the 13 appearances he made at High-A this season. If Maxwell continues to work on his control and command, the 22-year-old could make it to the big leagues in 2024.

2. Reds prospect Jose Acuña could leap from High-A to the major leagues in 2024.

Jose Acuña was part of the trade last summer that sent Tyler Naquin to the New York Mets. Acuña, who may need to be added to the Cincinnati Reds 40-man roster this offseason in order to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft, put together a fine season.

Acuña, after speding the second-half of the 2022 season at Low-A Daytona, spent his entire 2023 campaign at High-A Dayton. The right-hander posted a 3.93 ERA with 100 strikeouts in just over 100 innings pitched.

While the ERA this season was not nearly as impressive as it was in 2022, Acuña was still able to hold his own following the jump in competition. Acuña's walk-rate moved up slightly, but was still just over 10-percent.

Unfortunately, the strikeout numbers did see a downturn, and that's definitely something that the Reds coaching staff and talent evaluators will want to see improve over the offseason and heading into next year.

After spending all season at High-A, it's very likely that Jose Acuña will start his 2024 campaign at Double-A Chattanooga. Both Andrew Abbott and Connor Phillips began the year in the Southern League this season and turned that into a major league debut. Perhaps Acuña will do the same next season.