Everything you need to know about the Rule 5 Draft and 3 Reds prospects to protect

Reds prospect Christian Roa must be protected from the Rule 5 Draft

Christian Roa presents a very interesting and intriguing option for the Cincinnati Reds. After being selected in the second-round of the 2020 MLB Draft, Roa has seen the ups and downs during his minor league career.

But it seemed as though the 24-year-old finally put together a healthy season in 2023 and he could be a sneaky-good addition to the Reds 40-man roster this offseason.

Roa is not going to blow you away with any one aspect of his game. The Texas A&M product has a solid four-pitch mix, but doesn't have an overpowering fastball or tight-breaking slider that is going impress anyone with its off-the-charts spin-rate.

Roa, however, is able to get swings and misses. The right-hander posted a 31-percent strikeout-rate, but when you couple that with his 16.6-percent walk-rate, it becomes much less impressive. According to FanGraphs, Roa allowed opponents to hit just .228 but had a WHIP of 1.60.

Roa probably falls into that same category as Lyon Richardson, Carson Spiers, and Levi Stoudt; too much upside not to add him to the 40-man roster, but not enough of a track record to consider him a core piece moving forward.

Regardless, expect the Cincinnati Reds add Christian Roa to the roster before Tuesday's deadline. With the Reds need for pitching, allowing starter who could provide depth in the minors to be pluck during the Rule 5 Draft would be irresponsible.