Reds outfielder Hector Rodriguez remains criminally underrated in latest prospect rankings

MLB Pipeline released their updated rankings of all 30 major league teams. A few players within the Cincinnati Reds organization drew praise from the outlet, while others lost their luster.

The addition of 2023 draft picks like Rhett Lowder and Sammy Stafura saw their name among the Top 30, while others fell off the list entirely.

However, one name that has been ballyhooed about by several Reds fans did not receive much love when the newest rankings came out.

Reds outfielder Hector Rodriguez remains criminally underrated in latest prospect rankings.

Hector Rodriguez is one of the most talented prospects in the entire Cincinnati Reds organization, and yet, was ranked 17th according to MLB Pipeline.

Rodriguez has spent the entire 2023 season in Low-A with the Daytona Tortugas. In 92 games, the outfielder has hit .287/.342/.511 with 44 extra-base hits and 16 stolen bases. Rodriguez has done all this while being more than two years younger than the average player in the Florida State League, per Baseball Reference.

Rodriguez's improvement of power has truly been extraordinary. Through 91 professional games, Rodriguez had totaled just six home runs prior to this season. The 19-year-old has more than tripled his career total with his incredible performance thus far in 2023.

While the prospect rankings don't mean much of anything in the grand scheme of things, especially to the players themselves, and are little more than one person's opinion of how well a player may actually pan out, the fact that Rodriguez is ranked outside the Top 15 seems almost criminal.

Hector Rodriguez has to feel a little bit like Rodney Dangerfield based on the lack of respect he's garnered from the evaluators. Look for Rodriguez to continue to let his bat do the talking as he continues to climb the ladder toward the major leagues.